


New World Private Academy

by psychgrimmlover



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, Action/Adventure, Additional Tags Might Be Added, Alternate Universe - High School, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Sex, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Love, Luffy already knows, M/M, Male Slash, OCs - Freeform, Rating May Change, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Yaoi, Yuri, ages are a bit skewed, cursing, may be ooc, yeaaaaaa that's all i got right now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-09 17:26:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7810747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychgrimmlover/pseuds/psychgrimmlover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone wants to do away with the Supernovas, so to start, they go after the top two crews: the Heart Crew and Straw Hat Crew. When they realize it's the same group going after both of them, the two crews decide to form an alliance. This could either turn out great or disastrous...especially given Luffy's feelings about Law. Will both crews survive, or is this the beginning of the end for the Supernovas? Supernatural/High School AU! Yaoi!! LawLu!! *RE-UPLOADED SOME PARTS*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> It's been awhile since I've written anything. Well, I should say posted anything. Feels good to do so again. For One Piece fandom, I've switched ships...and I don't think I'm leaving it any time soon. Anywho, I wanted to write a high school-themed one, but add something to it, so I'm adding a supernatural twist. You'll see what I mean. Devil Fruits are still a thing, though only Paramecia and Logia-types exist, as does Haki. And the setting is the Grand Line, though a bit different: its a megalopolis (which is a very large, heavily populated urban complex) and divided up into six distinct Districts known as the East Blue District, West Blue District, North Blue District, South Blue District, Paradise District and New World District (separated like the oceans were, but now were more like modern cities and such). As for supernaturals, the story will revolve around many types, but the main will be Vampires and Shifters, as they’re equal to Humans in number; Witches/Wizards came in a close second, followed by Fae. The Supernovas exist too, and are all in High School. Everything is pretty self-explantory, but if you have questions, just comment, or I'll add a note to explain. Well, hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything! All of One Piece and its characters belong to the great Oda!
> 
> This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are OOC.

“Come on, we seriously need to talk about this,” an irate orange-haired teenage girl snapped at her boneheaded leader.

Said boneheaded leader continued to eat his lunch, blissfully ignoring everything at the moment.

“Give it a rest, Nami, jeez,” a green-haired teen snapped from his seat across from her at their lunch table. “You know Luffy won’t pay attention to anything until after he finishes eating.”

“Hey, moss head! Don’t talk to Nami- _swan_ that way,” the blond sitting next to Nami growled.

That, of course, started the usual shouting match between the two teens that would’ve quickly escalated into a physical altercation if the black-haired beauty seated beside Zoro hadn’t intervened.

“Sanji, I’m quite sure Zoro didn’t mean to disrespect Nami in any way. Right, Zoro?” Robin said, smiling sweetly at her boyfriend while he narrowed his eyes back at her before rolling them and scoffing, yet backing down. “See?”

“Of course, Robin- _chawn!”_ Sanji all but sung out, hearts in his eyes. “Anything you say.”

Zoro scoffed again, this time in disgust at Sanji’s usual amorous behavior.

“But we _are_ going to talk about this, right?” a high-strung, curly-haired teen asked, hands tinkering with something, as he’d already finished his lunch, before handing a tool to the blue-haired young man sitting next to him.

The teen grabbed it before all but shouting, “ _OW!_ I’m sure we’ll _supah_ talk about it once Luffy finishes eating, Usopp.”

Usopp sighed out before shrugging. “Guess you’re right, Franky. Nothing can ever get done until the food is gone, huh?” Usopp then looked at the youngest teen at their lunch table, sitting across from him, nose buried in a book. “Interesting reading there, Chopper? You haven’t had said a word all lunch.” Usopp smiled, a lighthearted tone to his words.

The brunet looked up from his medical textbook, a light blush spreading across his face. “Sorry, Usopp. I didn’t mean to ignore you guys.” He put a bookmark in the page and closed it, returning the tome to his backpack. “Bepo loaned it to me and I didn’t want to keep it longer than necessary.”

“Bepo?” the whole table looked over at their crew’s leader as he finally spoke, the lunch that was set in front of him completely gone now. “Torao’s friend?”

“Yeah.” Chopper said, smiling some. “It has some interesting medical techniques in it that I haven’t heard of before.” He pursed his lips in thought. “I think Law was the one who loaned it to Bepo, come to think of it. He has a lot of them, apparently.”

Before Luffy could speak again, he was silenced with a sharp look from Nami that made him shrink in his seat slightly.

“Now that you’re finished eating, Luffy, we _need_ to talk about these attacks that have been happening to us!” Nami exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the table, ignoring the slight sparks that shot out of her hand at the motion.

“Nami’s correct.” Robin said, wiping her mouth lightly with a napkin. “They’ve been increasing in intensity for the past two weeks since the first one a month ago.”

“And there’s no way they aren’t connected.” Nami stated. “They’re too consistent.”

“So someone’s after us.” Zoro deadpanned, running a hand through his hair. “That’s not exactly new.”

“But who?” Usopp asked, finally putting away whatever he was tinkering with into his backpack. “We haven’t actively pissed anyone off lately, have we?”

Everyone exchanged looks at that, then shook their heads.

“Well, we sometimes _do_ rub some people the wrong way without trying.” Sanji said loosely, fingers twirling a pencil, though he desperately wished it was his usual cigarette. Stupid school rules about not smoking on the campus.

“That may be true, but the ferocity at which they are coming after us tells me that the reason for the attacks is much deeper than a passing grudge.” Robin said seriously, leaning comfortably against Zoro when he wrapped an arm around her. “But as to what that reason is, we have yet to find out.”

“Luffy?” Zoro asked, seeing as the black-haired teen had been quiet for most of the conversation. “What do you think about all this?”

Luffy sighed out, leaning against the table as he glanced around at his crew, his _best_ friends, his _nakama_. He honestly didn’t know what to say to them.

For the past month, each member of the Straw Hat Crew—both the main members and associates—had been attacked by a mystery group that none of them had ever come in contact with before. After the first week passed by and the attacks hadn’t ceased, they then realized it wasn’t a random event and had to start staying in groups whenever they went somewhere. Their _cars_ had even been tampered with—which made them take their vehicles to Franky’s adoptive dad’s garage to get checked out, as well all of their family members’ cars. Furthermore, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji had always made sure to stay with the “weaker” members of the crew, given that they were strongest as well as the main heavy hitters of the Straw Hats. There had been no clues left behind after the attacks nor any threatening messages left for any of the members to find that would give them at least an idea as to who was attacking them, or why. But they had nothing so far. It was frustrating.

“We just need to keep being careful.” Luffy finally said, setting his straw hat back on top of his head. “They’ll make a mistake soon.” He smiled from under the brim, cracking his knuckles. “And when they do, we’ll kick all their asses!”

* * *

* **DESCRIPTIONS AHEAD! DON'T LIKE, SKIP AHEAD!** *

16-year-old Monkey D. Luffy—known to everyone as “Straw Hat”—was the leader of one of the nine infamous Supernova Crews of the Six Districts—the Straw Hat Crew. He’s a Sophomore, 5’7½”, and had mediumish, messy raven black hair with choppy, sporadic fringe, wide, round chocolate brown eyes, that always seemed to give off an innocent shine, light tan skin, and a lean, muscular body; he also had sharpish upper-canine teeth and underneath his left eye was a horizontal scar with two stitches. Usually hanging from a chin-string over his shoulder blades or placed on his head was an old, worn straw hat with a red ribbon circling it—this was where he got his epithet from and what his crew was named after. Luffy had eaten the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit, which gave him the properties of highly-stretchable rubber, was a highly-adaptive combatant, though was a master in Karate, Kung-Fu and Taekwondo, and could use all three variations of Haki (Observation, Armament, Conqueror’s).

The second-in-command of the Straw Hat Crew was the 17-year-old Roronoa Zoro, also known as “Santoryu Demon”. He’s 5’10”, a Junior, and had cropped, slightly slicked back, messy light leaf green hair, hunter green eyes, golden tan skin, a sinewy, athletic body, a massive stitched scar stretching from his left shoulder to right hip, and stitched scars circling either ankle; he had sharpish canine teeth, dangling from his left ear were three identical gold teardrop earrings, and always bundled over his right hip were his three katanas—a white one (Wadō Ichimonji), a dark reddish-brown one (Kitetsu III), and a black one (Shusui). His epithet mostly came from his personally-developed style, Santoryu (three-sword style), which contributed to him being an extremely powerful master swordsman, though was still quite adept in using only one or two swords; he could also use two of the variations of Haki (Observation, Armament).

17-year-old Mandarina Nami—also known as “Cat Burglar”—served as the brains of the crew, as well as the advisor…of sorts. She’s a Junior, 5’6½”, and had straight, shoulder-length hair the color of tangerines with choppy bangs worn back from her face and a single chin-length side-lock on the left side, chestnut brown eyes, fair skin, and a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure; around her left wrist was a gold bracelet and orange wristwatch and covering her left deltoid was an indigo tattoo that represented a tangerine and pinwheel. Nami’s main powers lied in her skill of Bōjutsu with her specially made bō-staff (Perfect Clima-Tact), genius in tactics, math, meteorology, directions and money, and excellent thieving and pickpocketing prowess.

The sniper, technology expert, and jack-of-all-trades of the crew would be the 16-year-old Tirador Usopp, otherwise known as “Sniper King”. He’s a Sophomore, 5’8½”, and had nape-length, ringleted black hair, usually kept underneath a bandana, dark brown eyes, a cinnamon complexion, a slim, athletic body, thick lips, and a really abnormally long nose; he had sharp upper-canine teeth and kept on top of his head were his pair of specialized sniper goggles. Usopp had exceptional marksmanship abilities with any weapon he picked up—though mainly relied on his own personal weapon, a giant green slingshot by the name of Kabuto—as well as having impeccable eyesight, and was now mastering how to use his Observation Haki; he also was an incredible liar with a talent of making up elaborate tall-tales that he could convince others was the truth.

17-year-old Rouge Sanji—also known as “Black Leg”—was the third-in-command of the Straw Hats, as well as their chef. He’s a Junior, 5’9½”, and had medium-longish, straight golden-yellow blond hair with the long fringe kept brushed over the left side of his face, light tan skin, Carolina-blue eyes, a small, dark goatee, and a sinewy, long-legged body; he had sharpish canine teeth, his eyebrows both formed a spiral to the left, and you could almost always find a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. His main power lied in his legs and feet, which was where his epithet came from—a fighting style by the same name, a combination of Capoeira, Chángquán, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Savate and Blood Leg, that was inspired by his adoptive father, Zeff—and, like Zoro, he was a master in the two variations of Haki; also learnt from his adoptive father was Sanji’s phenomenal cooking skills, honed over the years of working in Zeff’s five-star restaurant, The Baratie.

The youngest of the crew was the 14-year-old Tony Tony Chopper—also known by his epithet “Sakura”—who had skipped ahead a year due to his prodigal genius in the medical field, served as the Straw Hats’ doctor for that very reason. He’s a Freshman, 5’6½”, and had shortish-medium, shaggy dark brunet hair with messy fringe, large charcoal gray eyes, light tan skin, and a slim, wiry body; he had sharpish canine teeth, underneath his left ear was a jagged scar, and usually on his head was a large pale red/pink fuzzy top hat with a sideways white medical cross on the front. Despite his young age, Chopper possessed a vast knowledge of both medicine and medical drugs as well as the preparations of most remedies and ointments, and was capable of administering surgery, blood transfusions, resuscitation, and surgeries in the field. Most of his medical knowledge came from the fact that his mother (as well was his father before he’d died) was a highly-skilled doctor at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the Grand Line megalopolis—Cherry Blossom Medical Hospital.

18-year-old Nico Robin—well-known by everybody as “Devil Woman”—served as the historian and, like Nami, the brains of the crew. She’s a Senior, 6’, and had straight, scapula-length ebony black hair with blunt bangs and twin shoulder-length side-locks, sky blue eyes, a long, thin, defined nose, light tan skin, a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure with long legs and arms, and sharpish canine teeth. Robin’s a certified genius with a high aptitude in academics and research and held a vast knowledge of history and cultures. Like Luffy, she also ate a Devil Fruit, the Flower-Flower Fruit, which allowed her to spread her body parts on any surface—including her own body, other bodies and other objects—allowing her to create copies of them. With help from her Fruit, she excelled in Judo, often incapacitating others by breaking their necks or backs, and had a mastery over Observation Haki.

Last of the crew was the Senior, 18-year-old Cutty Flam, more commonly called Franky under extreme insistence of the teen, and he was the inventor, carpenter and mechanic of the crew. He’s a powerfully built young man with a height of 7’5½” and relatively enormous forearms with comparably small biceps; he had longish cyan blue hair sticking up like a large pompadour at the front and the back left down and spiked out at the ends with sideburns, light tan skin, dark gray eyes, a metal-plated nose, a three-pronged chin, and a blue star tattoo on either large forearm. When he was much younger, he was severely injured in an accident that killed his parents, and, to survive, he rebuilt parts of his body using pieces of scrap metal, turning himself into a cola-powered cyborg with superhuman strength and a whole bunch of other interesting features. His fighting style mostly revolved around Boxing, but he didn’t hesitate to fight dirty if needed, and also happened to be a mechanical, carpentry and inventing prodigy as well as a genius builder and contractor. Thanks to his very unique body, he’d earned the epithet “Iron Man”.

Now, New World Private Academy was a very exclusive private educational institute that only accepted a certain _type_ of student, and that was the Half-Breeds—which were basically half-Human/half-Supernatural. Everyone in the Straw Hat Crew was a Half-Breed, all except for Franky—who was technically a Cyborg-Human, so the Academy let it slide. Zoro’s Supernatural half was a Shadow Demon; Nami’s was a Weather Witch; Usopp’s was a Vampire; Sanji’s was an Unseelie Fae; Chopper’s was a Shifter—reindeer, to be more specific; and Robin’s was Fae, like Sanji, though hers was Seelie. Luffy was a super rare Half-Breed, since there were only four of his kind known to exist: Luffy was a half-Slayer/half-Vampire. Slayers were technically considered to be human, just with a special gene that gave them heightened senses and almost Supernatural capabilities, plus a predisposition for fighting, a natural immunity to any Supernatural’s power over the mind, and the ability to determine if a person was a Supernatural just by sight, and if so, what kind of Supernatural that person _was_.

* **END OF DESCRIPTIONS***

* * *

“What the hell did you just say to me, Trafalgar!?”

The Straw Hats—and about every student who was in the vicinity—turned around to look when the loud, angry voice reverberated across the lunch courtyard, seeing a fuming redhead—a familiar face, at least to the Straw Hats—standing in front of a familiar lunch table.

“Stop barking like a rabid dog, Eustass,” drawled the low, smooth voice of a black-haired teen as he lazily looked up from the book he was reading, a small smirk playing on his lips. “You’re starting to give me a headache.”

Luffy, once he’d realized who it was, completely tuned out the argument happening as his eyes stayed glued to the older black-haired teen, taking the time to drink him in, eyes running over every inch of him like he was suddenly going to learn or see something new. He knew that wasn’t possible, though; Luffy had memorized almost everything about him awhile ago, but he figured that was the result of having a crush on the older teen for the past three years.

Luffy didn’t understand why or how he’d fallen so hard, so fast for him, for Trafalgar Law, he just knew the second he’d laid eyes on Law for the first time three years ago that that was it. He’d never wanted anyone else after that—not that he’d wanted anyone before that, but that’s beside the point—and yet, he’d rarely ever spoken with Law, or really interacted with him. Not that they were on bad terms or anything—Robin had once described it as being a friendly, yet neutral relationship between the two—and Chopper was pretty close with Law and his friends, given their mutual understanding of anything medical and their similar classes of the same nature, but that was the extent of their interactions.

Luffy sighed. He’d kind of wished it was more, even if it was like what Law and Kid were doing now—shouting and arguing—at least it was _interaction_. As hard as it was to believe, Luffy had come to the realization a little bit ago that he had it really bad for Law, and he was almost one-hundred percent certain he was in love with the older teen; all of these intense emotions couldn’t mean anything else, at least to Luffy’s simple mind. But he didn’t know if he could actually _do_ anything about it. Law was absolutely stunning, one of the most lusted after at the school if he had to guess, and he could have anyone he wanted… so why would he settle on someone like Luffy? It depressed him every time he thought about it, which was something Luffy rarely ever felt.

**_RIIIINNNGGG_ **

The loud ringing of the bell, signaling the end of lunch, jarred Luffy out of his thoughts as he hurried to collect his things as his crew, and the other students, did the same. After throwing away his trash from lunch, and before going with his friends into the school, Luffy chanced a look back at where Law had been sitting, only to see an empty table. Law and his crew had already left.

“Dammit,” Luffy murmured to himself when he felt his heart twist almost painfully in his chest before Zoro calling his name had him looking up.

“You coming?” the green-haired teen called, lagging behind slightly. “If you’re late to class _again_ , your grandpa’s gonna kill you.”

Luffy winced in memory before running to catch up with Zoro, falling into step with his second-in-command as they returned to the school building and back to their classes.

* * *

* **DESCRIPTIONS! DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ** *

18-year-old Trafalgar D. Water Law—known throughout as the “Surgeon of Death”—was also the leader of one of the nine infamous Supernova Crews—the Heart Crew. He was a Senior, 6’1”, and had mediumish, somewhat messy raven black hair with choppy, sporadic fringe and sideburns, usually topped by a white northern-style fur hat with dark brown spots on the bottom and along the thick rim, slate gray eyes with faint shadows just below them, olive tan skin, a small, black goatee, a pair of small gold hoops hanging from either ear, a lean, muscular body, and sharpish upper-canine teeth. His most prominent and _distinguishing_ feature would’ve had to be his multiple elaborate, almost tribal-like tattoos: the capital letters **D** , **E** , **A** , **T** and **H** , in black, on the back of his left fingers; a black filled-in circle with T protrusions in four directions on the back of either hand; a black filled-in circle with T protrusions in six directions surrounded by an elliptical sun-like shape on either forearm; a black tribal-style heart on either deltoid; a black elaborate tribal-style heart covering his chest with a smiley face under the top-curls of the heart (over the sternum); and a black circle with T protrusions in six directions and a smiley face in the center (his crew’s mark) covering his back. Law’s a prodigally and _phenomenally_ skilled surgeon (despite being so young) and certified genius, had immense physical strength and tactical prowess, and was a highly skilled swordsman with his nodachi, Kikoku; he had also eaten a Devil Fruit, the Op-Op Fruit, which gave him the ability to create a spherical territory of light blue aura, called a _Room_ , where he's capable of separating and spatially displacing anything and everything inside (including himself)—referred to as that he could “operate” on anything within the spherical “operating room”—and also had control over all three forms of Haki.

The second-in-command of the Heart Crew was Law’s 17-year-old god-sister, Don Quixote Fai, though was usually just called by her nickname—Baby 5—or known by her epithet, “Buki Buki”. She’s a Junior, 5’8”, and had waist-length, slightly curled black hair with a purple tint, choppy bangs that swept to the left, and twin shoulder-length side-locks, topped by a white lace headband, big, round iris purple eyes, fair skin, a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure, and sharpish canine teeth; usually held between her painted red lips was a cigarette and covering her back was a burgundy red tribal-style heart tattoo. She had also eaten a Devil Fruit, the Arms-Arms Fruit, giving her the ability to change her entire body into any kind of weapon preferred—she could transform parts of her body into either blades or firearms, or her entire body into a giant sword, missile, or sickle. She was also skilled in espionage, had a habit of carrying an assortment of weapons on various parts of her person, giving her a mastery over a wide-range of combat skills, and had control over two variations of Haki.

18-year-old Porter Bepo—known widely as “Snow Bear”—served as the third-in-command of the crew, as well as their adviser, and was Law’s best friend. He’s a Senior, 8’10”, and had short, scruffy white blond hair, smoky gray eyes, snowy white skin, a sinewy, athletic build, and sharpish canine teeth; due to some genetic abnormality, both his lips and fingernails were black, and he had two pale gray tattoos—over his mid-back was a snowflake shape and covering his chest was a circle with T protrusions in six directions and a smiley face in the center. He’s highly trained in Kung-Fu and possessed Observation Haki, as well as being particularly good with directions and cartography and well-trained in the medical field.

Serving as the sniper and gossip of the crew was the 18-year-old Catala Shachi, also known as “Orca”. He’s a Senior, 6’, and had shoulder-length, layered auburn brunet hair with choppy fringe, usually topped by a turquoise Casquette hat with a pale red brim, whiskey brown eyes, light tan skin, and a lean, muscular build; tattooed over either forearm was a dark red ouroboros dragon with a star in the center, tattooed over his chest was a dark red circle with T protrusions in six directions and a smiley face in the center, and usually kept on his forehead were a pair of black sunglasses. He had exceptional marksmanship abilities, usually with guns, as well as swordsmanship skills, could use Observation Haki, and was a highly-qualified inventor, mechanic and carpenter and quite the accomplished surgeon (like most of the crew was); Shachi could also be considered the “Gossip King” as he had his ear to almost every gossip grapevine, knowing things before anybody else could or things he probably shouldn’t know; true or false, right or wrong, it didn’t matter, Shachi would discover it and immediately spread it around.

18-year-old Manchot Penguin—also widely known as “Arctic”—was the chef for the crew. He’s a Senior, 5’11”, and had cropped dark brunet hair, usually covered by a black cap with a yellow brim, red pompom on top, and **PENGUIN** displayed on the front, dark brown eyes, golden tan skin, a lean, muscular build, and sharpish canine teeth; curling around either arm were black swirl-design tattoos—from shoulder to hand—and tattooed over his chest was a black circle with T protrusions in six directions and a smiley face in the center. Penguin was a high-class chef, an accomplished surgeon, an incredibly strong swimmer, and a master in Sōjutsu with his weapon, a spear (Forsteri).

Serving as the technological expert was 18-year-old Diehl Ikkaku—also known as “Narwhal”. She’s a Senior, 5’7”, and had shoulder-length, curly chestnut brunette hair with twin chin-length side-locks, light brown eyes, light tan skin, sharpish canine teeth, and a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure; tattooed down the right side of her body—from shoulder to hip—were several tiny black hearts, on her lips usually was light pink lipstick, and in her ears were gold studs. She was a technological prodigy, a skilled inventor and historian, and a math and science genius; she was also a master in Kusarigamajutsu, deadly with her weapon of choice, an okinawan kusarigama (Narval).

18-year-old Diehl Uni—widely known as “Sea Urchin”—was the inventor of the crew, as well as Ikkaku’s twin brother. He’s a Senior, 6’, and had mediumish, puffy chestnut brunet hair, light brown eyes, dark tan skin, sharpish canine teeth, and a lean, muscular build; tattooed down the left side of his body—from shoulder to hip—were elaborate black tribal-style hearts. Like his sister, he was a math and science genius, as well as a skilled inventor and carpenter; his fighting skills lied in Bōjutsu with his weapon of a wooden bō-staff (Echinoidea).

17-year-old Rojan Clione, foster brother to Ikkaku and Uni, was the carpenter and mechanic of the crew, and was often called “Sea Slug”. He was a Junior, 5’11”, and had short, straight wheat brunet hair, hazel brown eyes, light tan skin, sharpish canine teeth, and a lean, muscular body; tattooed over his chest was an emerald green circle with T protrusions in six directions and a smiley face in the center. He was a highly-skilled musician and specialized in carpentry and mechanics; his fighting skills lied in a sword, a nagamaki (Mollusk), to fight with.

Like with the Straw Hats—as well as the other Supernova Crews—the Hearts were all Half-Breeds. Baby 5’s Supernatural half was an Unseelie Fae; Bepo’s was a Shifter, a polar bear; Shachi’s was an Air Wizard; Penguin’s was also a Shifter, though his was a penguin; and Ikkaku, Uni and Clione’s were all Demons—Ice for Ikkaku, Fire for Uni and Nature for Clione. Then there was Law, who was the exact same thing as Luffy—he was one of the four in existence, the other being Luffy, and the last two both being related to the two teens—a half-Slayer/half-Vampire.

* **DESCRIPTIONS DONE***

* * *

“Yeah, Zoro, I know,” Luffy said for the tenth time as he switched his cellphone to his other ear. “I’ll call you as soon as I get there! Jeez, you’re worse than my brothers sometimes.” Luffy glanced around the street once more as he ignored Zoro continuing to yell at him before finally cutting him off. “Yeah, yeah. I _know_. Talk to you later, Zoro.”

Luffy ended the call before slipping his smartphone—encased in a dark red phone case—into his pocket as he continued on his way to Party’s Diner—a small cafe owned and ran by Domon Makino, someone who Luffy treated as an older sister and basically helped in raising him—to wait for Zoro. The original plan was for Zoro to drive the two of them over there, where they were going to meet up with the rest of the crew (after they went home and changed), but Zoro’s adoptive dad (Dracule Mihawk) had called him right before they were leaving the school; he’d needed Zoro to drop something off at the dojo (Dracule Martial Arts Association, DMAA) Mihawk owned and ran…and you couldn’t exactly say _no_ to the man. After arguing with the green-haired teen for ten minutes, he finally convinced Zoro that he was more than capable of walking to Party’s by himself, even with the attacks going on. In his opinion, Zoro worried too much sometimes.

He was about a half-a-mile from his destination when Luffy felt it—he wasn’t alone anymore, and the people convening on him had less than friendly intentions. He slowed his pace some, but didn’t stop walking—not wanting to tip off his pursuers that he’d discovered them—before suddenly throwing himself sideways, flipping some before pushing back upright with one hand as something then flew through right where he had been standing. He threw his backpack off to the side and widened his stance some, preparing himself for a fight.

It was less than a second later that Luffy found himself surrounded by a group of about fifteen, maybe twenty men; unfair odds, if he was anybody else. Not waiting another second, Luffy attacked, shouting, _“Gum-Gum Gatling!”_ as he used his stretching ability to bring his fists forward repeatedly in a blurry, rapid barrage of strong punches, knocking out the seven men who’d been standing in front of him almost instantly and sending them flying. Dodging another attack, he vaguely noticed one of them bring out a gun, but didn’t pay it much attention since bullets bounced off of him.

That was his mistake.

Luffy stumbled back a few steps when he felt something penetrate his shoulder, followed by a familiar numbing sensation nearly a millisecond later; Luffy cursed as he forced himself to stay upright and conscious, even as the sea stone now inside him was draining his energy away. He shouldn’t have played off the gun—he _knew_ better than that—since it didn’t shoot regular bullets, but sea stone ones. Those didn’t bounce off of him and now he had that stupid stone stuck _inside_ of him. His whole left arm and shoulder was numb and useless by now, but he couldn’t let that stop him. He was alone, without his crew, or anyone else for that matter, so he couldn’t give up…or he’d be dead, and that was not going to happen.

Dammit, why didn’t he listen to Zoro? He was totally screwed if something didn’t happen soon.

* * *

“I don’t care if Corazon’s house is like Fort Knox, Baby, I don’t want you staying there alone.” Law argued to his god-sister, glancing over at her quickly before returning his eyes to the road. “Especially with these attacks going on. Any of us are a target.”

Baby 5 rolled her eyes, but gave up on arguing. Law was just too stubborn sometimes. “Fine. I’ll stay at your place until Cora gets back from his trip. Happy?”

Law rolled his eyes. “Oh, _very_. Thank you for doing something I had been telling you to do for the past ten minutes.”

“Don’t be a jackass, Law.” Baby 5 sassed, leaning back in the passenger seat of Law’s Porsche Cayenne. “I was only trying to say that— _wait, Law!_ Stop the car!”

Law reflexively slammed his foot on the brake at Baby 5’s shout, whipping to glare at her a second later. “What the hell?!”

“Look!” Baby 5 shouted back, pointing at something in front of them.

Law looked at what Baby 5 was motioning at before his eyes widened some. _What the hell?_ It looked like a group of maybe fifteen men were standing in a loose circle around something that Law couldn’t see, and one of them was definitely holding a gun. He put his car in _park_ before quietly opening his door and getting out, Baby 5 doing the same thing, and gave another glance around, now seeing that there seemed to be some signs of a fight and about…maybe six or seven more guys knocked out a few feet away.

“Just give it up, you brat!” he heard one of the men shout, probably at whoever was in the center of the circle. “You can barely stand now!”

Law felt it before he saw it happen, but the man who had shouted was punched straight in the face, sending him flying backward and onto the ground, and that was when Law finally saw who it _was_ they were attacking.

“Law, isn’t that—” Baby 5 started, gripping his sleeve.

“Straw Hat.” Law muttered, eyes landing on the younger black-haired teen. And he looked awful, pale and sweating and barely staying up.

“Shut up! Some stupid bullet won’t keep me down!” Luffy shouted back, eyes narrowed stubbornly. “Bring it on!”

“Sea stone isn’t something you can just walk off, Straw Hat. Especially not to a Devil Fruit user like you!” another of the men shouted before being kicking in the gut by Luffy.

But that was the extent of the fight Luffy had left in him, it seemed, as he started listing sideways, looking about to drop, though, true to form, Luffy was trying to resist every second of it.

“Law!” Baby 5 exclaimed quietly, gripping his sleeve tighter. “Do something!”

But Baby 5 hadn’t needed to say anything. Law already had his hand out, a _Room_ forming around them before he pushed it wider to encompass the small group of men as well. With a quick flick of the wrist and a _Shambles,_ Law switched himself with Luffy, landing in the center of the men with a wicked smirk on his lips.

“That wasn’t very fair of you.” Law said sarcastically, a small _Room_ then forming around his hand before Kikoku landed in his upturned palm. “Fighting fifteen on one like that.”

He heard the men start whispering, definitely hearing his name mentioned, before he had enough of waiting; sooner he finished here, the sooner he could tend to Straw Hat. Why he cared so much about that, he would look into at a later time. After glancing quickly over to where he had been standing—seeing that Baby 5 was crouched down next to Luffy, trying to wake him up—he cast another _Room_ around himself and the group before sliding Kikoku out of her sheath slowly.

“Now, let’s have some fun.” Law smirked darkly before slicing his nodachi several times around him, watching as the men came apart in several pieces, all yelling and screaming in confusion and fear. He swirled his hands around, making the body parts spin around the circumference of his _Room_ , before swiping his hands down several times, attaching the body parts at random; it ended up being a mishmash of random body pieces attached to parts they definitely didn’t originally belong to, just like he’d planned. To be honest, he’d wanted to do more—inflict more pain, more chaos, maybe experiment a little bit on their pain tolerance—but Baby 5 shouting at him had Law looking over.

“He’s not looking too good, Law!” Baby 5 shouted, flitting her hands around Luffy’s head with a worried look. “We need to go!”

Law grumbled but nodded, dropping his _Room_ and walking over to the two, but not before glancing over the men one last time, making sure they were out of commission. He didn’t know what made him stop, but whatever it was, he’s glad he did, because that’s when he saw it. That mark, he’d seen it before.

“Law!” Baby 5 snapped worriedly.

“Coming.” Law muttered as he ran over to them, tucking away the tidbit he’d learned for later consideration, and glanced quickly over Luffy, seeing why Baby 5 was so worried—Luffy was barely breathing now, pulse hardly visible, and he was pale and sweating profusely. His condition was worsening. Sea stone could be a bitch.

Handing Kikoku to Baby 5, Law reached down and scooped Luffy up—idly noticing just how light he was—before moving to the car, waiting as Baby 5 opened the back door so he could slide the younger teen inside.

“Sit back here with him. I don’t want his body jostled too much, since I don't know how secure that bullet inside of him is. We don’t need it moving around.” Law instructed and Baby 5 nodded as she went around to the other side, sliding in the backseat a second later, setting Kikoku down on the floor before lifting Luffy’s head to rest on her lap. Law shut the door and, after glancing around once more and spotting something, made a quick _Room_ and brought Luffy’s backpack to him before getting back in the driver’s seat, throwing the bag onto the passenger side, and then shifting the car into _drive_ once he knew everything and everyone was secured. “Also, could you call Lammy and tell her to go home with Sugar and Dellinger?”

“Of course.” Baby 5 said, grabbing her burgundy-encased smartphone from her backpack and pulling up the familiar contact of her god-sister. Once she opened it, she clicked on the number and put the phone to her ear, waiting for Lammy to answer.

Law and Baby 5 had been on their way to pick up Law’s younger sister, Lammy, from her martial arts practice at DMAA, which was why the two were even in the East Blue District in the first place, even though Law lived in the North Blue (and Baby 5 in the New World District). Lucky thing they were, or Luffy might not had made it. Law flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror, taking in Baby 5 talking on the phone and Luffy’s harshly breathing form as the sea stone continued to drain his energy. Both Law and Baby 5 had been exposed to the stone before, and they knew how much it sucked to be touched with the stuff, how goddamn _weak_ it made you feel.

“Okay. Talk to you soon, then. Bye.” Baby 5 hung up her phone before sliding it back into her bag.

“Well?” Law asked, hands clenched on the steering wheel as he finally turned into his neighborhood, Flevance, and began making his way to his house.

“She said she would.” Baby 5 answered, shifting slightly before glancing down at the younger teen. “I wonder who it was that attacked him?”

Law’s mind flashed to the mark he saw on the group of men before shaking his head; he wasn’t going to bring it up until he had the time to think it through, and that was not now. “Well, I highly doubt the Straw Hats have a short list of enemies. Going from their reputation alone, they’ve taken down a lot of powerful people or groups who would love revenge.”

“Yeah…but I don’t think that’s it.” Baby 5 said, moving the straw hat that was on his head to his chest so she could run a few fingers through his hair in comfort when Luffy’s face started twisting in pain. “There was something different about it.” She hummed lightly. “Funny, almost reminded me of our attacks.”

Law didn’t say anything to that, though silently agreed with her, as he pulled into his driveway and opened the garage door, parking his car inside. He turned it off and hopped out, opening the back door so he could pull Luffy out. He pushed open the door and went down the few stairs before rushing over to the “media room” that had been converted into a fully-functioning infirmary. He laid Luffy down on the operation table and, no time to be careful, took a pair of scissors that Baby 5 suddenly handed him and cut Luffy’s uniform shirt and vest off of him, pulling his tie off a second later; luckily, Luffy wasn’t wearing the jacket when he was attacked, so that was one less thing Law had to deal with. Speaking of jackets, Law took his own off, followed by his tie, throwing both off to the side before rolling up his dress shirt sleeves and undoing the top few buttons. Pulling the light Baby 5 turned on for him over where the wound was, he finally got a good look at it.

It looked like any bullet wound he’d seen before, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get the bullet out, but he’d have to be careful. One wrong move could send the bullet further in or break it into pieces, and since it was a sea stone bullet, that was something he couldn’t afford to do. Breathing out slowly, he glanced over at Baby 5 as he formed a _Room_ around him and the operating table.

“I need a scalpel.” Law said, pulling on a pair of surgical gloves before quickly running a _Scan_ , wanting to find the exact placement of the bullet. “I’m going to have to make a slight incision directly over the bullet so I can pull it out quickly. I’m also going to have to do that without either of us touching it, so grab a metal bowl that I can drop it into.”

Baby 5 nodded and ran to the opposite side of the room as Law pinpointed the exact location before reaching behind him, grabbing a sharpie, and then marking the place with it. Baby 5 returned with what he’d asked for and, after asking her to clean the area, he leaned over the smaller body and pressed the sharp edge of the scalpel to Luffy’s skin. It took a little more pressure than usual—probably due to the rubber properties of Luffy’s skin, he’d look into it in more detail later—before he sliced a straight line right underneath the left shoulder. Making sure not to breathe through his nose, Law closed his eyes to concentrate and with a few sharp, precise movements, he had the bullet flying out of the body before he caught it with a _Tact_ and placed it in the metal bowl Baby 5 was holding. He dropped his _Room_ once it was done, not wanting to waste anymore of his energy.

As soon as the bullet was out of Luffy’s body, he began looking a whole lot better—his breathing and heart rate had evened out, he wasn’t sweating anymore or twitching in pain, and he was no longer pale. His blood circulation was also better, though that turned out to be a problem, as the incision Law created started bleeding a lot more profusely than before.

“Shit!” Law cursed, quickly reaching back and grabbing a piece of gauze, slapping it over the incision to slow the bleeding down. “I need to suture this closed! Get me some thread!”

Baby 5 was already running over to the drawer where all that was usually kept, but after a few frantic seconds of searching, she turned back to Law, eyes wide. “There’s none here!”

“What the hell do you _mean_ there’s none in there?!” Law shouted, adding more gauze and pressing down harder. “I just restocked a week ago.”

“Your parents must of taken it.” Baby 5 guessed, slamming the drawer shut, looking frantic. “What do we do?!”

Law already had an idea on what to do, but it was unconventional and dangerous. He could already feel the excess saliva flooding his mouth, but he seriously didn’t want to use this method. Not only was it unsanitary, but Law wasn’t sure he could control himself once he did it. He looked down at Luffy’s face, seeing the peacefulness that had settled in after getting that bullet out, before sighing. He didn’t really have a choice here. The question of why he cared so much resurfaced, but he squashed it down, ignoring it. He had no time for doubts or questions.

“Baby 5,” Law said seriously, moving around so he was right above the wound, “I need you to come over here.”

Baby 5, noting the seriousness in Law’s tone, went over to stand next to him without question.

“Okay, I’m going to close his incision, but the way I have to do this is…unconventional.” Law explained, though didn’t look away from Luffy.

“What does that mean?” she asked, a little concerned, especially at the intent look Law was sporting right now.

“You know how a Vampire can close the wound they inflict after feeding?” Law asked, moving down some, placing one of his hands by Luffy’s shoulder.

“Yeah.” Baby 5 said slowly, not seeing where Law was going with this.

“That’s possible because of the enzymes secreted in a Vampire’s saliva when they’re about to feed. It speeds up the skin’s recovery and closes the wound almost instantly.” Law glanced up at Baby 5 and saw the moment she finally understood what he was planning to do.

“Law, you seriously don’t plan on—”

“I’m half Vampire, Fai. I can do the same thing with my saliva and close the incision.” Law said, and when he used Baby 5’s actual name, she knew he was serious.

“Why isn’t he healing himself?” Baby 5 asked, not wanting her god-brother to do this. “Doesn’t he have a fast healing rate like the rest of us?”

“I can only speculate, but I think the lingering effects of the sea stone is messing with that.” Law said, placing his hand over the gauze. “I’m doing this, but I need you to stay right next to me, just in case.”

Baby 5 seriously didn’t want to ask. “In case of _what_ , Law?”

Law breathed in deeply, feeling the familiar fog start to overtake his brain, before saying, “In case I can’t stop.” And then he lifted the gauze, throwing it off to the side, and lowered his head down; he slicked up his tongue, making sure it was covered in saliva, before dragging it over the ten millimeter incision.

Law had to stop himself from groaning aloud at the taste and actively fight his baser Vampiric instincts that yelled at him to get more, _drink_ more. It was like nothing he had ever tasted before and it was _intoxicating_ , and could very easily become addictive. He could faintly hear Baby 5 calling his name, but he blocked it out, taking another swipe over the incision, knowing just one coat wouldn’t be enough to close it. After the second pass, he could feel his upper-canines tingle and throb, the need for his fangs to lengthen so he could pierce the skin and get more of that delicious blood now coating his tongue. Clenching his fists tightly, feeling his slightly extended nails pierce his palms, he did one more lick, this time not able to hold in the small groan from coming out, before forcefully yanking himself back and off of the smaller teen; he stumbled back and fell, landing on his ass as he fought with himself, panting as he wrestled for control, though the blood lingering on his lips and tongue did nothing to help with that…

_SLAP_

The hard contact of Baby 5’s palm hitting his face, wrenching his head to the side, finally brought him back. He leaned forward, finally able to breathe regularly and think clearly, as he licked the last of the blood off his lips and swallowed.

“Law, are you okay?” Baby 5 asked, crouching down in front of him, a worried look on her face.

He nodded, raising his head to look at her. “Yeah, I’ll be fine now. Thank you.”

Baby 5 snorted. “Never thought I’d hear you thank me for slapping you.”

Law chuckled some at that before looking back up at the operation table. “How is he?”

“Your little stunt worked.” Baby 5 said, pushing herself upright. “The wound is closed and the bleeding stopped.” She held out a hand to help him up. “But do you want to tell me what just happened?”

Law accepted the hand and pulled himself up, dusting off his pants and shirt. “What do you mean?”

Baby 5 rolled her eyes and smacked his arm. “All of that! Why did you look like you were about to go for Straw Hat’s jugular just then?”

Law took a deep breath in before looking at her. “You know he’s like me, right?”

Baby 5’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion before it hit her. “Oh, yeah. A half-Slayer/half-Vampire.”

“Correct.” Law glanced down at his shirt, seeing that blood now stained it in some places; dammit, there went _another_ shirt. He really needed to stop ruining his shirts like this. “Have you ever heard what they say about a Slayer’s blood?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that it’s indescribably good, the best out there.” She tilted her head. “But I thought that was just a legend, a tall-tale that got spread around or something.”

Law shook his head. “It’s true, though many Slayers try to make it seem like legend.” He looked over at Luffy, who now seemed to be sleeping rather than just unconscious. “His blood…I’ve never tasted anything like it.”

Seeing how Law’s gray eyes were starting to become glazed over, Baby 5 lightly coughed and walked closer to Luffy. “Well, he seems to be better.” Law’s head cleared and he looked over at his god-sister, eyebrow raised. “So, what do we do now?”

Law sighed as he walked to stand next to Baby 5. “Well, I’m going to move him to the recovery room for now, since I’m not quite sure where he lives.”

Law reached down and scooped the smaller teen back into his arms, trying really hard not to notice just how _warm_ Luffy was, and headed across the hallway to the recovery room/guest bedroom. It was an 11x12 room that was painted a taupe color and had white tiling on the floors with a tan area rug covering the center; three metal-framed platform beds were placed in the room, each one a single and each one made up with white bed sheets. It was a clean, sterile room, given Law often used it as a place for his “patients” to recover.

He walked over to the bed on the far wall and pulled back the covers before placing Luffy down, covering him back up with the sheet a second later. Glancing behind him, he saw that Baby 5 had followed behind him, carrying Luffy’s backpack and straw hat with her. She placed it down on the black chair situated a little ways away from the bed before turning to face him, a question in her eyes.

Law ran a hand down his face before giving her a tired look. “I really hate to do this, but could you go pick up Lammy from Doffy’s house?”

Baby 5 smiled and squeezed his arm. “Of course. Could I borrow your car?” Hers was still at her house, since she had driven in with Law that morning.

Law nodded. “Yeah. The keys are,” he started reached in his pocket before seeing them in Baby 5’s hand, “right there, apparently.” He gave her a tired smile. “Be careful, got it?”

Baby 5 gave him a sarcastic salute. “Got it, _mom_.” And then she left the room, Law hearing his car start and the garage door open and close before it was silent again.

He sighed out, pulling his hat off and setting it down on the black side table next to the bed, before scrubbing his hands through his hair. This was definitely not how he thought he’d be spending his evening, that’s for sure. He looked down at the sleeping Luffy, breathing steady and the air around him almost…peaceful. How strange.

He carefully sat down on the bed, right beside Luffy’s hip, and glanced over the younger teen. This was the first time he’d really had the chance to _look_ at him, since any of their other interactions were brief and usually at school. To be honest, Law had always felt…a weird sort of _something_ about Luffy, whether it’s just someone mentioning his name or briefly seeing the ravenette somewhere. He didn’t quite know what it was or if it was something he should act on, but since the feeling never really lingered on for too long, Law always pushed it off. But seeing the teen in front of him, open and vulnerable, the feeling was making itself known. He couldn’t help but look him over, really take him in.

Luffy was all tendons and muscles, an amazing amount of power packed into such a small, compact frame, yet his face was all curves flowing into curves, no definition to it; the plumpness of his cheeks definitely complimented the smile Law always saw gracing the rubber teen’s lips and his round, expressive eyes certainly fit. Law’s own eyes then moved down to the curved scar that was under the left eye and, before he knew what he was doing, Law had lifted his hand and his fingers were tracing the mark lightly. Such an interesting wound. Law wondered how he’d got it.

His fingers then traced lightly down his cheek, feathered past his lips—really tempted to stop there but decided it wouldn’t be his smartest idea—and down his neck, stopping briefly over the pulse—feeling the even beating of his heart—before landing on where he’d removed the bullet. His fingertips brushed over the smooth skin, neither the incision or bullet hole present anymore, before licking his lips in memory. Before his mind could bring him back to just _how_ delicious Luffy’s blood was, a loud ringing startled Law, both out of his head and out of the bed.

He looked around, on high alert, before realizing it was just a phone. He reached into his pocket before remembering he had left it in his jacket’s pocket, which was in the other room. So that only left… he looked down at the sleeping teen, seeing something lit up in the front right pocket of his pants. He looked around, a little nervously, before huffing and returning back to the bed, reaching inside the pocket and retrieving the phone.

**ZORO**

Straw Hat’s second-in-command was calling? Law debated on answering or not before just pressing the “accept” button and bringing the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

There was complete silence from the other line before a rough voice barked out, _“Who the hell is this?”_

Law sighed out. “Trafalgar Law, Roronoa.”

More silence. _“Why the fuck do you have Luffy’s phone? What did you do to him?!”_

“Calm yourself, Roronoa. The only thing I did to Straw Hat was save his life.” Law explained, rolling his eyes.

_“Save his… what the hell happened?!”_

“Straw Hat was attacked, on his way home, I’m presuming. I happened to be driving by when it happened and stepped in—” Law was interrupted.

_“Luffy’s too strong to need help. Why would you need to step in at all?”_

“I’m inclined to agree with you, Roronoa, had Straw Hat not been shot with a sea stone bullet.”

_“Shit. Seriously?”_

“Yes.” Law cleared his throat and continued. “I stepped in, took out the attackers and when I saw how bad Straw Hat’s condition was, I brought him back to my house.” Before Zoro could question him on that, Law went on. “I removed the sea stone, closed his wound and he’s now resting comfortably. I assure you he is quite alright.” He paused a moment before adding, “It wouldn’t really benefit me to harm Straw Hat, anyway.”

The line was silent for a few minutes as he presumed Zoro was taking everything in. _“Shit. Okay, okay. I don’t know why, but I do believe you.”_

“Glad to hear that.” Law said, as sarcastically as possible, of course.

_“Don’t be a goddamn asshole, Trafalgar. It’s not like I have any actual reason to trust you, do I?”_

Law rolled his eyes but sighed out. “Yeah, I guess that’s true enough.”

_“So, Luffy is really alright.”_

Law was getting sick of this redundancy, but he guessed he could understand, especially hearing the relief in Zoro’s tone. “Yes, he’s fine.”

Zoro started muttering, probably to himself, but Law’s sharp hearing was able to pick it out. _“Shouldn’t have let that idiot talk me into letting him walk alone, especially now of all times. We knew we had people after us, but I still let him go alone. Stupid fuckin’ idiot.”_

Those muttered words confirmed what Law had suspected since he saw those marks on Luffy’s attackers, but since he needed to discuss that with Straw Hat, not his righthand, Law disregarded Zoro’s mutterings. “Roronoa?”

A few mumbled words sounded before Zoro started speaking again, _“Sorry. So, is he awake? Can I talk to him?”_

“No, Straw Hat is still sleeping.” He switched the phone to his other ear as he looked down at Luffy. “I’d wake him, but he really needs to recuperate his strength after being shot with sea stone. I can have him call you when he wakes up?”

_“Yeah, okay. That’s fine. I’ll let the others in our crew know Luffy’s safe with you for the moment. They’ve been crazy with worry for over an hour now, and it was starting to get on my nerves.”_

Law hummed in understanding.

Zoro was silent for a few seconds before saying, in the most sincere voice Law had ever heard him use, _“Trafalgar? Thanks…for saving him. If we had lost him…”_

“No thanks is needed, Roronoa. I didn’t save him for that. It was just a whim, I guess.” He swallowed as he continued looking down at Luffy. “I’ll have him call when he wakes.” And Law then ended the call.

Law reached over and placed the phone on the side table before standing back up, grabbing his hat, and heading to the door. After one last look at the sleeping teen, he left the room, closing the door behind him. First things first, he needed a shower, and a change of clothes. Luffy’s blood was still on him and the scent was _still_ intoxicating. He shook his head and headed up the two flights of stairs and then into his bedroom.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, thanks so much for the comments and kudos and such to the first chapter! I'm glad people are enjoying it. So, here's the next chapter. Fair warning, any "romantic" stuff between Luffy and Law will happen a little down the road, since for the first few chapters, I'm just trying to establish the story and connection between the two crews and such right now. Oh, and I forgot to mention in my first AN, each of the islands are gonna be considered as "neighborhoods" or "subdivisions". It was either that or treat them as cities or street names, but I decided not to go that route. As always, comments are welcome! Also, if there is any questions about anything I've brought up so far, just add a comment and I'll try my best to answer! Okay, on with the show.
> 
> As always, I own nothing but the idea. Everything from One Piece belongs to Oda.

After a _long_ shower and changing into some new clothes—a dark blue hoodie with black sleeves and hood and his crew’s personal mark, in dark yellow, covering the front and a worn pair of spotted jeans, forgoing his usual hat, since his hair was still wet—Law headed back downstairs. He stood in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, trying to decide on what he should do now, when he heard the garage open. After a quick check, he realized it was Baby 5 and Lammy. A few seconds later, the two females came up the stairs, one normally walking while the other ran.

“Law! Law!” his younger sister yelled as she ran over to him, jumping on him for a hug.

“Hey, Lammy.” Law said affectionately, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “How was school?”

Trafalgar D. Water Lammy was a 14-year-old who attended North Middle School as an eighth grader. She’s 5’1½” and had waist-length, straight light reddish-brunette hair, parted to the right and worn back in low pigtails, with choppy bangs swept to the left and kept back by a pink clip, wide, round light gray eyes, fair skin, and a petite, slender body; she had sharpish upper-canine teeth and in her ears were small silver hoops. Like Law—and Luffy—Lammy was also a half-Slayer/half-Vampire.

“It was okay.” Lammy said with a shrug, hopping back down to the floor. “But I wanna hear about Straw Hat Luffy! Baby 5 said he was here.”

Law cut a sharp look over to Baby 5 at that, but she just rolled her eyes and looked away.

“Where is he? Can I see him?!” Lammy asked, almost vibrating with excitement.

“Calm down, Lammy.” Law said, chuckling some as he ruffled her hair. “How do you know about Straw Hat anyways?”

“Oh, some of the kids in my martial arts class at DMAA know him and the other Straw Hats.” Lammy said, smile still wide. “They like to tell us about their adventures and stuff. I’ve actually met Mr. Roronoa already. He taught one of my Kendo classes. He was funny.”

Law’s eyebrow raised. Funny was not the adjective he would use to describe Roronoa Zoro. “Really, now.”

“Yeah!” Lammy exclaimed, before her face became serious. “I saw Mr. Roronoa there today too, talking to Master Mihawk, before he got a phone call. Then he got really angry and then made a lot of other phone calls.” She started twirling her hair with her fingers. “The others were picked up by the Straw Hats and they all left, really agitated.” If it wasn’t obvious, Lammy was a genius, just like her brother, and wise beyond her years.

“Who are these “others”?” Baby 5 asked, sitting on the bar stool lining the island in the kitchen.

“Chimney, Rebecca, Rika, Apis, Carrot, Pepper and Onion.” Lammy listed, walking over to the kitchen as well, Law following behind her. “They’re our friends.”

“I take it those are the friends who are close to the Straw Hats?” Law guessed, crossing his arms.

“Yup!” Lammy chirped, before continuing where she left off. “I didn’t really think it was strange, since the Straw Hats had been picking them up for the past month like that.” Law and Baby 5 exchanged looks at that. “But when Baby called and said I needed to go to Doffy’s house with Sugar and Dellinger, it got me worried.”

“Sorry about that.” Law felt the need to apologize.

“It’s fine.” Lammy waved him off. “Now that I know _why_ you did that, I understand.” She smiled at her brother. “So, can I see him?”

Law sighed out, closing his eyes as he rubbed his fingers over them. “No, Lammy. He’s resting right now.”

“But—”

“There’s something you _can_ do, though.” Law interrupted, hiding a smirk when Lammy looked up at him expectantly. “Cook some dinner. I’m sure Straw Hat will be hungry when he awakens, plus Baby and I haven’t eaten yet either. Father and Mother won’t be home until later anyway.”

“Late night at the hospital?” Lammy guessed as she headed into the kitchen.

“Yes.” Law said. “So, will you cook dinner?”

“Yeah, of course!” Lammy exclaimed, going to open the fridge to see what she could make.

Baby 5 got up and walked over to Law, looking at him questionably. “Okay, what’s going on?” She paused, giving him an accusatory look now. “You saw something earlier, didn’t you?”

Law nodded, making sure to talk in a low voice so Lammy wouldn’t overhear. “I’m almost certain that the people who had attacked Straw Hat are with the same group who had been attacking us for the past month.”

“What?!” Baby 5 shouted, getting Lammy’s attention briefly before she went back to searching through the pantry when Law waved her off.

“Be quiet!” Law snapped when Lammy turned away, leaning closer to her.

“But you’re sure?” Baby 5 asked, quietly now, eyebrow raised in disbelief. “You’re sure they’re the same group?”

“I saw marks on their bodies that matched the marks I’ve seen on our past attackers.” Law said, scratching his chin. “I wasn’t completely sure until Roronoa let something slip in our earlier conversation.”

“Roronoa?” Baby 5 asked, confused. “When did you talk with Straw Hat’s second?”

“He called Straw Hat’s phone and I answered it.” Law said, pushing the sleeves of his hoodie back up when they fell down. “I wanted to let him know where their leader was so they wouldn’t destroy half the District trying to find him.”

Baby 5 nodded before asking, “What did he say?”

“He said he shouldn’t have let Straw Hat walk alone, not when they had people after them.” Law said, repeating when he’d overheard.

She nodded again, tapping her lip in thought. “So that wasn’t an isolated attack. I figured as much. But how are you so sure they’re connected?”

“I’m not hundred percent certain, _yet_ .” Law said, running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to talk with Straw Hat once he wakes up and see if they _are_ connected.”

“And if they are?” Baby 5 asked, head tilted.

Law just shrugged, though a mysterious little smirk played on his lips; he was up to something, that’s for sure.

“Okay, whatever, don’t tell me.” She sassed, throwing her arms in the air and rolling her eyes.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Law said cryptically before looking at the kitchen. “Now, could you help Lammy with dinner? I don’t want her trying to reach for something and fall, or setting something on fire.”

“I heard that, Law!” Lammy yelled. “I’m not gonna set anything on fire either! I’m not _Corazon_.”

That got a laugh from both Law and Baby 5 before the female teen smiled at her god-brother and headed into the kitchen, while Law headed back down the stairs to check on his patient.

* * *

* **FLASHBACK***

 _“Come_ **_on_** _, guys, I don’t wanna miss them!” a seventh grade-Luffy shouted back at his crew, running quickly out the gates of East Middle School._

_A loud groan was heard from Zoro. “Would you calm down, Luffy?! They aren’t going anywhere!”_

_“Zoro’s right, Luffy.” Nami said, pushing her hair back some. “The high school lets out later than the middle school does.”_

_“Why do we need to go there anyway?” Usopp asked, voice shaking some. “Can’t we meet them at Party’s or something?”_

_“Yeah, the high school is scary.” Chopper agreed, his high-pitched voice quivering. “I hope their first day was okay.”_

_“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Chopper.” Sanji said, lighting up a cigarette and taking a puff of it. “Franky, Robin-chwan, and my Viola are as strong as they come. I’m sure they were just fine.”_

_Chopper glanced up at the blond cook, a hopeful look in his eye. “You think so, Sanji?”_

_Sanji smiled back down on the younger boy, patting his head over his hat. “I’m sure.”_

_“Yeah, don’t listen to long-nose,” a pink-haired girl in pigtails sassed, rolling her eyes at the boy. “He’s_ **_such_ ** _a scaredy cat.”_

_“Perona, don’t make fun of Usopp.” Zoro lectured, like he’d done thousands of times, at his adoptive sister. “He can’t help being a chicken.”_

_“Yeah, Zoro, you tell—_ **_hey_** _! I am_ **_not_ ** _a chicken!” Usopp screeched, waving his hands around._

_One of the madly waving hands was grabbed by a pale, blonde young girl, giving it a tight squeeze. “Of course you aren’t, Usopp.”_

_Usopp turned about twenty shades of red at that, but smiled back at her. “Thanks, Kaya.” He also didn’t remove his hand from hers._

_“I really do hope Robin, Franky and Viola enjoyed their first day,” a blue-haired girl thought aloud, more for the sake of pulling her friends focus back on the reason they were heading to the high school in the first place._

_Nami smiled at her, glad she still had_ **_someone_ ** _with brains with her, since Robin was at the high school. “I’m sure they did, Vivi.” She then pulled out her smartphone—encased in a tangerine orange phone case—when it chimed from her backpack. After seeing who the message was from, she smiled. “Oh, it’s Robin.”_

_Luffy was next to her in less than a second. “Ooo! What did she say? What did she say?!”_

**_Smack_** _!_

_Luffy pouted as he nursed his wound while Nami returned to reading the text message._

_“She said the school let them out a little bit early and that she, Franky and Viola will be waiting in the front courtyard for us.” Nami repeated, sending a quick “okay” text back before putting her phone away._

_“Woohoo!” Luffy cheered, skipping ahead once again, leading the way._

_It took them about ten more minutes to reach New World Private Academy, and once they did, they headed for the gate, which was opened since the school had let out. They glanced around, seeing the many different people milling around the courtyard, most of them dressed in the same uniform Luffy remembered seeing Robin and Franky wearing that morning. His eyes scrunched some as they drifted over some of the groupings of students, some of them looking really familiar…_

_“Holy shit.” Nami murmured, coming to stand next to Luffy._

_“Nami?” the rubber boy asked, looking over at her._

_Her head was bobbing as she seemed to be counting and mumbling under her breath,_

_“Kid Crew…Heart Crew…Hawkins Crew…On Air Crew…Bonney Crew…Drake Crew…Firetank Crew…Fallen Monk Crew…”_

_and then swore again._

_“Okay, Nami, what’s up?” Zoro asked this time, standing on Nami’s other side._

_“They’re all here.” Nami said, arms crossing._

_“Who?” Luffy asked, head tilted._

_“The Supernovas.” Nami said, giving her leader a sharp look. “The other eight Supernova Crews are all_ **_here_** _.”_

_Luffy blinked at that while the other members of his crew seemed to understand what Nami was saying. He looked back around the courtyard, finally placing some of the faces with the pictures Robin and Viola had gotten of the other Supernova leaders, but Luffy didn’t understand why everyone was freaking out. It’s not like they were being attacked or anything, and he was guessing they attended the high school too. Shrugging it off, like he did everything else—unless food was involved—he continued looking around until his eyes fell on a group of three teens standing at the far side of the courtyard._

_Luffy’s smile widened before he started waving his arms. “Oi! Robin! Franky! Viola! Over here! Oi!”_

_“Luffy!” most of the Straw Hats shouted at their dimwitted leader while Zoro and Sanji just snorted and shook their heads at Luffy’s usual behavior._

_Luffy’s shout got the three Straw Hats’ attention…as well as every single person standing in a five-foot radius. It especially caught the attention of the other Supernovas, since, before today, they’d never seen or met any of the Straw Hat Crew—as the Straw Hats were the only ones who attended East Middle School—but they had definitely_ **_heard_ ** _about them, the rumors flying about them as crazy and infamous as they came. The craziest of them all, of course, being about the leader, Monkey D. Luffy. Even as crazy as they were, no one wanted to mess with this crew because anyone who was stupid enough to do so was…well…they really weren’t_ **_around_ ** _anymore. That was one thing_ **_everyone_ ** _knew about Luffy—you were as good as dead if you messed with_ **_anyone_ ** _Luffy considered a friend._

_Robin, looking up from the book she’d been flipping through, gave her Mona Lisa smile as her eyes landed on her crew. Looking over at Franky and Viola, they gathered their things before heading over to meet up with the others; Robin was very well aware of the stares all of them were receiving, as she, Franky and Viola had been receiving them all day, but they were ten-times worse now that the rest of the crew was here._

_“Hey guys!” Luffy exclaimed, loudly, and bounced forward to hug all three of them—at once, of course, since his rubber arms stretched to encompass them._

_“Luffy.” Robin said back, ruffling his hair some when the force of the hug caused his signature straw hat to fall back._

_“_ ** _OW_** _!” Franky shouted, moving into his signature move—slamming his forearms together above his head, leaning slightly to the left. “It’s_ **_supah_ ** _that you guys came all the way here to see us!”_

_“We would’ve been more than happy to meet you all at Party’s.” Viola said, pushing her short jet black hair back as she leaned over to greet Sanji with a peck, causing him to go into one of his “noodling” fits._

_“See!” Usopp shouted, motioning to Viola. “We didn’t need to come all the way here!”_

_“She’s saying that out of kindness, while_ **_you’re_ ** _saying it out of fright, you idiot.” Perona snapped, twirling her hair some._

_“Would you stop that!” Zoro yelled at Sanji as he continued his usual routine of noodling around Viola with hearts in his eyes and spouting “romantic nonsense”. “You’re annoying me, stupid curly-brow!”_

_That got Sanji to stop noodling, but now his entire body was on fire with rage in his eyes that replaced the hearts as he glared at Zoro, now toe-to-toe with him. “What the hell did you just say to me, moss head?!”_

_“You heard me, love cook!” Zoro snapped back, hand moving to rest on his white katana. “You need to get your hearing checked or something?”_

_“That’s it!” Sanji screamed before attacking Zoro as Zoro brought out Wadō and Kitetsu to meet him. They were chasing each other around the group their crew formed, the only sounds heard being loud bangs and the clang of feet on sword blades._

_Luffy was, of course, laughing at his second and third’s usual behavior while the rest of the crew was shaking their heads or hiding…and then there was Nami, who looked about ready to explode. Small thunderclouds were already beginning to form above them, reacting to Nami’s mood._

_Robin, noticing this, and not wanting another thunderstorm so soon after the last one, crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes, concentrating._ “Ocho Manos!” _And eight arms formed on both Zoro and Sanji, four on each male, before crossing over, preventing them from moving._ “Clutch!”

_“Gah!”_

_“Ouch!”_

_Nami, noticing this, breathed out slowly, helped some by Vivi rubbing her back soothingly, and the thunderclouds dispersed. “Thank you, Robin.”_

_Robin uncrossed her arms, the copied limbs on Zoro and Sanji disappearing into petals of a peach blossom, and smiled at the orange-haired girl. “No problem, Nami. I’m happy I could be of assistance.”_

_Luffy lost interest in what was going on about ten seconds after the fighting started, so he began looking around the courtyard, taking in the different types of people still lingering around, when his eyes landed on a raven-haired teen, probably Robin’s age and a little taller than her, and on what visible skin Luffy could see, he had tattoos, but he was too far to make out the design; he also had a really cool fluffy spotted hat on his head and was holding a_ **_really_ ** _long sword, but all that left Luffy’s attention the minute the teen turned around and Luffy got a good look at his face. He was really, really…what was that word Perona used when she saw someone she really liked…_ **_hot_** _! The word was hot. This guy was definitely_ **_that_** _, with strong features and a firm, square jawline, broad shoulders and a lean build; even those two earrings in his ears, and the dark lines underneath those pretty gray eyes. Luffy suddenly put a hand on his stomach…it was starting to feel funny, kinda like when he’s hungry…but not._

_“Robin?” he asked, not looking away from the teen, though he knew he got her attention when he felt her standing next to him a moment later._

_“Yes, Luffy?” Robin looked down at her leader, a little concerned when he didn’t even look up at her, and he had this intense look on his face she’d never seen before…outside of a fight, that is._

_“Him.” Luffy said, nodding his head at the teen he was still staring at. “Who is he?”_

_Robin blinked at the odd question but followed Luffy’s gaze to find him staring at…oh my. A mysterious smile flitted over her lips. How interesting._

_“Robin?” Luffy questioned when the black-haired beauty didn’t answer right away, finally turning away from the older teen to look up at her. “You okay?”_

_Robin laughed quietly, covering it some with her hand. “I’m just fine, Luffy.” She gathered her composure again as her eyes flitted from Luffy to the teen her leader asked about. “You’d like to know who he is?”_

_Luffy nodded, eyes returning to their staring._

_“That would be Trafalgar Law.” Robin answered, though her tone made Luffy look up at her again. Robin, noticing his questioning look, continued. “Well, that is the name he’s registered here as. And what most know him as.”_

_“But that’s not his actual name?” Luffy asked, head tilted._

_“No, no, that’s his name.” Robin said, crossing her arms. “Just not his_ **_full_ ** _name.”_

_Luffy raised an eyebrow in question._

_“Trafalgar D. Water Law.” Robin recited, watching as Luffy’s eyes widened in surprise, and realization._

_“D.? You’re sure?” Luffy asked, serious for once._

_“I am quite sure.” Robin said, moving a hand to push back her hair some._

_“He’s a Slayer?” Luffy questioned._

_“No.”_

_That got a confused look from the rubber boy. “But he had—”_

_Robin cut him off with a look. “You didn’t let me finish. He’s not_ **_just_ ** _a Slayer.”_

_Luffy may not seem like it most of the time, since he usually hid behind a façade of naiveté and ignorance, but he’s actually quite perceptive and intuitive. Most everyone, including some of his crew, were usually fooled by it, so there were very few people who knew about the wit and cunning that Luffy hid from everyone else. It was sometimes hard for people to imagine, given that Luffy’s default personality was fun-loving and easygoing, but there was a hidden intelligence behind it all. And in times Luffy deemed it needed, that brainpower came into play._

_“You aren’t saying what I think you’re saying, right?” Luffy asked, eyes wide._

_“He’s one of the four in existence, besides you and your brother.” Robin confirmed with a nod. “Actually, the last one is his younger sister.”_

_“A half-Slayer/half-Vampire.” Luffy whispered to himself, eyes returning to look at the taller teen. To his shock, Law was now looking right back at him, slate gray eyes giving him an amused, yet considering look._

_Luffy cut his eyes away quickly at that, heart beating wildly in his chest and he could feel his cheeks warming up. He seriously wasn’t… he felt his cheeks, feeling the warmth painting them. Yup, he was blushing. Was it because of Law? What the hell was happening to him?!_

* * *

17-year-old Kumiko Perona—also known as “Ghost Princess”—was Zoro’s adoptive sister and a half-Medium/half-Necromancy Witch. She’s a Junior, 5’2”, and had butt-length, straight bubblegum pink hair, usually worn up in a pair of high pigtails by black flower-shaped bands, with blunt bangs, big, round violet eyes, fair skin, and a slim, well-endowed, hourglass figure; lining her eyes was a thick layer of eyeliner and on her lashes was mascara, painting her lips was red lipstick, and on her long nails was pink nail polish. Perona had eaten a Devil Fruit, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, which gave her the ability to produce “ghosts” for a number of different uses—usually for combat or information gathering situations—and could make astral projections of herself; she was also a master in Karate.

16-year-old Jarabe Kaya—also known as “Heiress”—was Usopp’s girlfriend and a half-Human/half-Earth Witch. She’s a Sophomore, 5’6”, and had shoulder-length, straight pale ash blonde hair, parted to the left, wide light brown eyes, alabaster skin, a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure, and in her ears were diamond studs. She was a master in Fencing with her weapon of a rapier, Guérison Argent, and a quick study in the medical field.

16-year-old Nefertari Vivi—also knowns as “Sand Maiden”—was Nami’s girlfriend and a half-Human/half-Sand Witch. She’s a Sophomore, 5’6½”, and had hip-length, straight sky blue hair, usually pulled up into a high ponytail, with twin chin-length side-locks, coffee brown eyes, alabaster skin, a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure with long arms and legs, and in her ears were gold dangling earrings. Her fighting prowess lied in Ninjutsu and her weapon of choice was her Peacock Slashers—small, sharp, spinning jewels attached to her fingers by wires.

18-year-old Riku Viola—also known as “Ultraviolet”—was Sanji’s girlfriend, Kaya’s roommate, and a half-Human/half-Water Witch. She’s a Senior, 5’8”, and had shoulder-length, slightly wavy jet black hair, parted to the left and topped by a light blue headband, with choppy bangs swept to the left, copper brown eyes, olive tan skin, a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure, and in her ears were round, light blue earrings dangling from a strand of two tiny pearls. She’s an expert in Taekwondo, a graceful Flamenco dancer, and had eaten the Glare-Glare Fruit—which allowed her to form “goggles” via her fingers, which she could use to see through everything (akin to X-ray vision) and read the minds of others, as well as allow others to see into her memories in return, could view 200 kilometers around herself as a bird-eye’s view, and could also form tears from inside of her eyes and manipulate them into large shapes for attacking.

* * *

Luffy’s eyes fluttered opened the second his stomach started grumbling, his conscious eerily connected to his state of hunger. Didn’t matter if he was dead asleep or lightly snoozing, if he was hungry, he would wake up. He’d always been that way. His family too. Seemed to be a genetic trait.

But after Luffy rubbed his eyes and shook his head, he realized something—this wasn’t his room. This wasn’t _any_ room he’d recognized, but before he could start panicking about that, he forced himself to calm down and take a breath in and out. As rare as it was, Luffy used his head, trying to figure out where he was. Looking around himself again, he then noticed this room looked a lot like the one that Chopper put them in when they got really hurt in fights. It was really…clean. He took in another deep breath, but couldn’t get a scent other than what he identified as cleanliness. Wait, no, there _was_ something else, but it was faint and he couldn’t get a good enough trace of it to identify what it was. Pouting, he moved behind his neck to grab his hat, only to meet nothing but air. _That_ caused him to start freaking out some, eyes darting around the room rapidly, before landing on his treasure, resting on a chair in the corner of the room on top of his…backpack? How’d that get there?

Stretching his arm over, Luffy grabbed his straw hat and brought it back to him, plopping it comfortably on his head as he now tried to remember what happened before he woke up here.

Okay, he was walking to Party’s from school, since Zoro had to go to his dad’s work to drop something off, and then…and then… _oh!_ He got attacked, that’s right. About twenty men surrounded him and he fought, of course, but then…oh, what happened then? An echoing throb from his left shoulder reminded him suddenly. Sea stone! He got shot with a sea stone bullet, but he couldn’t give up the fight…he was all alone, they would’ve ended him if he didn’t keep fighting.

That’s when his memories started to blur. He'd thought he'd heard a car pass…or did it stop? He'd punched and kicked someone…or several someones, he couldn’t remember, and then the strangest sensation came over him, like something hooking inside him and he was suddenly elsewhere, and that’s when he'd completely blacked out. Only to wake up here. His hand then moved to where he’d remembered getting shot, but only found smooth skin. Where was the wound? He definitely got shot, but then where was the bullet…and why didn’t he feel weak anymore? Where was the sea stone?

He swung his legs out of the bed, setting his bare feet— _where did his shoes go?_ —down on the cool tile floors, and when he was about to stand, maybe look around some more, the door situated across from the bed he was in was pushed opened by the last person Luffy expected to see.

“Ah, Straw Hat, you’re awake.”

“Torao!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is. About adding Perona, Vivi, Kaya and Viola's descriptions at the end of Luffy's "flashback" (just establishing the first time he laid eyes on Law, btw), I know it seemed weird, but since I introduced them in that section, I decided to just do so. Sorry. Oh, and the thing about Luffy's intelligence? That's just a personal head-canon of mine. Like it or don't, it won't hurt my feelings. Thanks for reading and see you next time!


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait. I had some mouth surgery, so I've been a little out of it, but I finally got the next chapter ready! To be honest, it's more of a filler, but I think I added a good amount of fluff, plus some information about what's going on, kind of. As always, if you have any questions, shoot me a comment. Enjoy the chapter!
> 
> BTW, I own nothing but the idea. Everything from One Piece belongs to Oda.

_**L** **AST** **TIME** **:** _

He swung his legs out of the bed, setting his bare feet— _where did his shoes go?_ —down on the cool tile floors, and when he was about to stand, maybe look around some more, the door situated across from the bed he was in was pushed opened by the last person Luffy expected to see.

“Ah, Straw Hat, you’re awake.”

“Torao!?”

* * *

Law raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but he’d heard his name butchered worse before, so he didn’t let it bother him. “Yes. How are you feeling?” He shut the door behind him and moved closer to the bed.

Luffy couldn’t answer, still a little bit stunned. But he’d finally figured something out. The scent that ran underneath the cleanliness in this room…it was Torao’s. Which meant he’d been in there, and recently too.

Law finally reached the bed and looked down at Luffy, a little confused at his lack of response. “Straw Hat?”

“I, uh…” Luffy tried to find words, he really did, but all he could focus on was how close Law was to him, and that he was in casual clothes, his hair not under his usual hat and apparently damp. _That means he took a shower recently._

A hand on his forehead brought him out of his thoughts really quickly, falling back on the bed in his rush to escape the touch. His skin still tingled, though, from the contact. It was a feeling he could grow to like. That was dangerous.

Law was now beyond confused, but if Luffy was reacting this fast and moving around like that, then his mobility must be fine. Now he was just worried about a head injury. What else could explain his odd behavior?

“What am I doing here?” Luffy finally asked, scooting back some more until he felt his back hit the metal headboard.

“You don’t remember?” Law asked back, moving to take a seat on the end of the bed, only hesitating slightly when Luffy let out a weird _eep_ noise at the action.

“Uh, no, not really.” Luffy said, crossing his legs underneath him and resting his hands on his crossed ankles.

Before trying to explain anything, Law asked, “What’s the last thing you _do_ remember?”

Luffy licked his dry lips, Law’s eyes following the motion (not that Luffy noticed), and said, “I got shot with a sea stone bullet,” he grabbed at the shoulder in memory, “but I had to keep fighting. I was all alone.”

Law noticed the clenching of Luffy’s fist and had to fight the urge to grab it, wanting to smooth out the fingers. What a strange reaction. “And?”

“The sea stone was too strong. I felt myself getting weaker.” Luffy blinked, clearing his throat before looking back up at Law. “That’s it.”

Law nodded. “I suspected as much.”

“So, what happened?” Luffy asked, now rocking from side to side. “Why am I here?”

“Baby 5 and I happened to be driving by and saw the fight.” Law explained, moving so he was more on the bed, legs tucked underneath him comfortably. “I didn’t realize it was you until you punched one of those idiots out of the way.” He shook his head. “That guy mentioned a sea stone bullet and then I noticed how bad you were looking. So, I switched places with you.”

“Huh?” Luffy questioned, head tilted to the side.

Law let a small smile slip; Luffy reminded him of a confused puppy just then. “You realize I have Devil Fruit powers, correct?”

Luffy nodded, vaguely remembering Robin telling him something like that. “Yeah…”

Law allowed a small _Room_ to form around his hand, grabbing a small pebble he always kept in his pocket and placing it in his palm. A quick _Shambles_ later, he had switched that pebble with Kikoku, dispersing the _Room_ and leaning his nodachi against the bed. Looking back up at Luffy, his eyes widened and he leaned back slightly. The look on Luffy’s face was scaring him.

Luffy’s eyes were sparkling in amazement. “That was so cool!” He glanced from the nodachi back up at Law again. “Can you do that with anything?! What else can you do?! What was that blue orb thingy?!”

Law was freaked out by this side of Luffy, though his usual intensity was still there. “We’ll get back to my powers in a minute.” Luffy didn’t look like he’d liked that decision, but backed down some, though his bottom lip poked out slightly, giving him a cute pouty look…wait, _cute?_ Where did _that_ come from? He shook his head, clearing it. Now wasn’t the time.

Luffy glanced down at the comforter, picking at the threads some when Law continued to stay quiet and just look at him. That twisting feeling in his stomach was back, and he knew now that it had nothing to do with food…though he _was_ still hungry, but that was beside the point (for now).

“Anyway,” Law finally said after clearing his throat, “I dispatched your attackers and then brought you back here, to my house—”

“Your house?!” Luffy yelped, looking up from the bed, eyes wide and a light blush spreading across his cheeks. “I’m at _your_ house?”

Law nodded, not understanding why Luffy was freaking out. “Yes. I didn’t know where you lived, and I needed to get that sea stone bullet out of you, and my house was equipped for a procedure like that.”

“Oh,” Luffy said, finally off the fact that he’s at _Law’s house_ —though he’d come back to it in a minute—as his hand reached his shoulder again. “Is that why there’s no hole there?”

“I removed the bullet and closed the wound.” Law said, a light blush on his face now as he glossed over the fact of _how_ he’d closed the wound—not wanting his mind to bring back up just how damn _good_ Luffy’s blood was, nor for Luffy to know that he had tasted him—before continuing, “Once I saw you were improving, I moved you here until you woke up again.”

“Oh.” Luffy said, hand dropping back down to his lap, before looking back up at Law with his usual smile spreading across his face. “Thank you, Torao! I would’ve been a goner if you didn’t help me.” He bowed at the waist, just like his brothers and Makino had taught him to when giving thanks to someone.

Law felt the blush return to his face, feeling weirdly flustered at Luffy’s thanks, before breathing deeply and waving him off, telling him just what he’d told Zoro. “No thanks is needed, Straw Hat. I did it on a whim.” He looked over Luffy’s head, then back down at him when he’d realized something. “And it’s _Law_ , Straw Hat.”

“Hmhmh. Torao.” Luffy said, still with a wide smile.

“Whatever, Straw Hat.” Law muttered, not in the mood to argue as he stared at the younger teen as he rocked back and forth, thinking; well, now was as good a time as ever. “Was this the first time an attack like this has happened to you?”

Luffy shook his head, but stopped his rocking to give Law his full attention. “We get attacked a bunch, Torao, but no.” He tilted his head, now studying Law, before smiling again. “You knew that already, though, right?”

Law’s eyebrows raised, surprised, but realized he really shouldn’t be. Luffy didn’t get to be one of the top Supernova leaders by just being insanely strong…there had to be _some_ brains in there too. “Yes, I already figured that.” He scratched through his hair in thought, before deciding to just lay everything out on the table; he’d figured someone like Luffy would appreciate the straightforwardness, though being completely honest to someone not in his crew was something he wasn’t used to. “For the past month, members of my crew and myself have been attacked by a mysterious group. We don’t know who this group is or why they’re attacking us, but being targeted isn’t new to us. Where I drew the line is when they started going after people outside my crew, though still connected to us in someway.” He clenched his fist, still angry about that, before breathing out slowly, trying to collect himself. Now wasn’t the time.

“You too?” Luffy asked, eyes wide as he stared at Law in shock.

Law nodded at this. “It was only in the past two weeks that, after increasing attacks, that I found a consistency among our attackers.” He reached back into his pocket, pulling out a sheet of paper, and handing it to Luffy. “This mark. It’s been tattooed on every single attacker.”

Luffy furrowed his brows as he took the sheet from Law, unfolding it to see the image of three skulls, each facing a different way. He studied it for a moment before folding it up and sticking it in his pants’ pocket. He’d show this to Nami and Robin later. But there was something more important to ask Law now.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Luffy asked, head tilted again as he studied Law, viscously pushing back his attraction for the moment.

“That mark,” he motioned to the paper now in Luffy’s pocket, “was on every single one of the men that attacked you, Straw Hat.” He nodded at Luffy’s wide-eyed look. “That is why I’m telling you about this. I believe that the people attacking you and your crew are the same people attacking me and my crew.”

“Whoa.” Luffy said, leaning back against the headboard, taking it all in for a second.

“Which leads me to my…proposition.” Law said, getting Luffy’s full attention again. “Since we now know we’re being attacked by the same people, I think we should help each other out.”

“Like a team?” Luffy clarified.

“An alliance.” Law stated, tapping his fingers on his thigh. “We could continue to come at this alone or we could pool our resources and try to figure out who is doing this together.” He gave Luffy a serious look. “It would be beneficial to both of us.”

Luffy nodded slowly, thinking everything through. He knew what _his_ answer was already—like he’d even needed to think about it, seriously—but his crew also had a say in this. He knew it would ultimately come down to what _he_ decided, but he still wanted his crew’s opinion. Well, mostly Zoro and Sanji’s, given they were his second- and third-in-commands. He’d need to call them.

He glanced back up at Law and, to his surprise and embarrassment, Law had been watching him the entire time he’d been thinking. Clearing his throat some, he said, “My answer is yes, but I need to talk to my crew before I make any commitments.”

Law gave him a thoughtful look and then a nod. “Understandable. I shall give you the room so you can give them a call.” He started getting up, but he remembered something he should’ve said the moment he saw Luffy was awake. “Roronoa called, by the way.”

“Zoro did?” Luffy asked, patting his pockets for his phone— _he put it back in there, right?_ —before following Law’s finger when he pointed at something. Oh, there was his phone, on the side table. How’d it get there?

“You were still unconscious, so I took the liberty of answering it. I hope you don’t mind.” Law said, getting completely up from the bed, before watching, in bemusement, when Luffy stretched his arm over to his phone, not even leaving the bed. “I didn’t want your crew to worry.”

Luffy waved him off before realization hit him—if Law answered his phone, that meant Law had to _get_ his phone…which meant that Law had to get his phone out of his pocket, and that meant Law put his hand— Luffy felt another blush spread across his face, making him reach up to pull his straw hat down, hiding his face from view.

“Straw Hat?” Law asked, confused at what Luffy was doing.

Luffy shook his head before saying, in a convincingly steady voice, “What did Zoro say?”

Law raised an eyebrow but shook off his behavior as Luffy being Luffy; he was a pretty strange guy. “That he’s glad you were okay and to call him back when you wake up.” He smirked. “I’m pretty sure the word _idiot_ was thrown around too.”

Luffy snickered his usual laugh, pushing his hat up some. “That sounds like Zoro. He really didn’t want me walking alone to begin with.”

“I can understand why.” Law said, giving a pointed look at his shoulder.

Luffy grumbled. “Yeah, yeah. I get that _now_.”

Law suddenly looked up, eyes squinted before shaking his head. “I’ll leave you to it then.” He grumbled and shook his head again, grabbing his nodachi. “I need to get upstairs before my sister and Baby burn down the house with dinner.”

“Dinner?!” Luffy perked up, eyes wide and shining at the mention of food.

“Yeah.” Law nodded, heading to the door, before turning back to look at the younger teen. “I’ll come get you when it’s ready. You’re more than welcome to join us.” He gave Luffy one last lingering look, a small smirk playing on his lips, before leaving the room, door shutting behind him.

Luffy flopped back on the bed, trying to get his breathing and heart rate back down. Law just had that effect on him without even trying. It wasn’t fair! After feeling like he wasn't about to suddenly go into Second Gear by accident, he picked up his phone—which he had dropped further down on the bed—and pulled up his best friend’s number, pressing it before putting the phone to his ear.

_Ring Ring Rin—_

_“Luffy?!”_ was shouted into the phone by several voices.

Luffy smiled, leaning back against the headboard. “Hey, guys.”

_“Give me the ph—” “But I wanna talk to him—” “After I’m do—” “Is he o—” “Shut up! I—” “It’s my damn phone, you idiots! Get out of my way!”_

Luffy waited while the different voices filtered through the speaker, waiting until they decided on who would talk, before a several loud _thumps_ were heard.

“Hello?” Luffy asked cautiously.

 _“Luffy, are you okay?”_ That was definitely Zoro.

“I’m fine, Zoro!” Luffy answered, laughing. “I told you I would be.”

There was a low growl from the other line, causing Luffy to shrink back some reflexively. _“That’s not what Trafalgar said! He had to save you, Luffy! What the hell did I tell you?! To be careful, you idiot! And then you go and almost get yourself killed!”_

Luffy pouted. “I’m sorry, Zoro.” He sighed. “I should’ve listened to you.”

There was several seconds of silence before a sigh and then Zoro said, _“I guess I can’t stay mad at you. I would’ve done the same thing too.”_

Luffy’s face changed into a smile, but Zoro wasn’t done.

_“But the others aren’t as forgiving as I am, Luffy. You had them really worried when Makino said you never arrived and then we didn’t hear anything from you for more than an hour!”_

“I know, I know.” Luffy scratched his ear. “I’ll talk to them later.”

More silence. _“So, you’re at Trafalgar Law’s, huh? How’s that going?”_ There was a sly tone in Zoro’s voice, causing Luffy to turn red.

“Zoro! Don’t!” Luffy whined, back to pouting. There were only two people in his crew who knew about his feelings for Law, and that was Zoro and Robin. Zoro because he’s Luffy’s best friend and Luffy told him everything, and Robin because she’s way too smart not to had noticed…and she’s Zoro’s girlfriend and had ways of getting information out of him.

Zoro chuckled. _“You must be loving it right about now, huh?”_

“Stop!” Luffy whined again.

 _“Okay, okay, fine. You’re no fun.”_ Zoro said, laughing some more before saying, _“So, you’re really okay?”_

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Luffy said, glad Zoro was done teasing him. “Torao took out the sea stone, so I was okay after that. Closed up the wound and everything! I can’t even tell it was there.”

_“Really, now. I’ve heard rumors of his surgical abilities, well, Robin had, but I’m glad to know they really are as good as everyone says they are.”_

“They are!” Luffy exclaimed, before getting serious again. “But we need to talk about something, Zoro.”

Noticing Luffy’s shift in tone, Zoro responded in kind. _“Okay, what’s up?”_

“When Torao…saved me, he noticed something about my attackers.” Luffy said, stretching out. “Well, something _on_ them.”

_“What was it?”_

“A mark that was on every guy.” Luffy explained. “He even had a picture of it. I’ll show it to you guys later.”

_“Okay… I don’t understand what this has to do with him…or us, though.”_

“Torao and his crew have been getting attacked for the past month by an unknown group for no reason.” Luffy said, hearing the sharp inhale from Zoro. “Sound familiar?”

 _“And it’s been going on for a month?”_ Zoro asked, not even bothering to answer Luffy’s question.

“As long as ours has.” Luffy confirmed. “And Torao found a mark on his attackers too.” Luffy paused a moment. “It was the same mark he found on the men who attacked _me_.”

_“Shit.”_

“Yeah.” Luffy said, nodding to himself. “He thinks the same people are behind both of our attacks.”

 _“The same mastermind.”_ Zoro muttered, seemingly in agreement. _“Okay, makes some weird sort of sense. But why tell you this?”_

“He wants us to team up.” Luffy said, wringing his hands. “An alliance, he called it.”

 _“So, he wants us to help each other.”_ Zoro said. _“Instead of coming at this from two separate points, we attack together.”_

“Basically.” Luffy answered, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m all for it—”

_“Of course you are.”_

Luffy ignored the interruption. “But I told him I needed to talk to you guys.” He paused. “Is Sanji around?”

Zoro grumbled. _“Unfortunately. You need me to get him?”_

“Please.” Luffy said, smiling when Zoro cursed before the line went quiet for a few minutes.

_“Slow the fuck down, cactus! I’m coming!”_

_“Who are you calling a cactus, curlycue?!”_

“Shishishi.”

 _“Luffy?”_ Sanji asked before another fight could break out between the two.

“Hi, Sanji!”

There was an inhale before a longer exhale, so Luffy guessed that was Sanji smoking, like usual. _“Moss head filled me in, mostly. So the Hearts want an alliance with us?”_

“Yup, pretty much.” Luffy answered, nodding even though no one could see him. “I wanted to talk to you guys before I made any decisions, though.”

 _“I can’t see anything wrong with his logic.”_ Sanji said, a slight tapping coming through the speakers. _“We didn’t even know about those marks until he brought it up, after all.”_

 _“That’s what I said.”_ Zoro muttered but was shut up with a loud _thump_ , so Luffy guessed Sanji had just kicked him.

 _“And we probably know stuff they don’t.”_ Sanji continued. _“Having two pools of information is smarter.”_ A slight pause. _“I have no real objections against it.”_

“Zoro?” Luffy asked, wanting Zoro’s okay too.

 _“I’m fine with it, you know that.”_ Zoro said after snatching the phone back from Sanji. _“My only problem is that we haven’t had much interactions with the Heart Crew, but Chopper seems to like them, so they can’t be all that bad. And if they do something we don’t like, we’ll kick their asses and break the alliance.”_

 _“Of course your solution is violence.”_ Sanji muttered.

_“What was that?!”_

“Okay, I’ll let Torao know we’re in!” Luffy exclaimed, interrupting their fight. “Could you fill the rest of the crew in?”

“Sure,” they both answered, which caused them to growl at each other.

 _“Do you need me to come get you, Luffy?”_ Zoro questioned, turning the phone off of speaker as Sanji left the room to go fill in the rest of the crew.

“Nah.” Luffy waved off. “Torao said his sister was making dinner and that I could stay! So, I’m gonna stay here for right now.”

Zoro chuckled at that answer.

“Zoro!” Luffy moaned in exasperation. “Stop making fun of me!”

 _“But it’s so easy to.”_ Zoro teased, but at Luffy’s answering whine, he added, _“Okay, just let me know if you need me to come get you. If not, I’ll see you tomorrow when I pick you up for school, okay?”_

“Got it, Zoro.” Luffy mumbled, knowing Zoro wasn’t going let him out of his sight for a little bit now. He was protective like that.

 _“Don’t give me that, Luffy.”_ Zoro almost snapped. _“We could’ve lost you, okay? I don’t want to hear it.”_

“I know.” Luffy answered, a little more sympathetically. “I’m sorry.”

There was a moment of silence. _“I’m just really glad you’re okay, Luffy. Don’t do that to us again, alright?”_

“I’ll try.” Luffy said, and that was the best he could give his best friend; with their lifestyle, and these attacks, he couldn’t promise more than that.

Zoro understood that, though. _“Talk to you later, Luffy. Enjoy your dinner.”_

“Bye, Zoro!” Luffy sung out, hanging up and slipping his phone into his pocket.

He stood up, walking over to where he saw his backpack, but noticed something resting on top if it—a black hoodie. He picked it up, unfolding it, and when he saw the familiar golden mark covering the front, he then realized this was one of _Law’s_ hoodies, though probably an old one, given that it was smaller than what would fit Law now. He swallowed nervously before bringing the hoodie to his nose and inhaling deeply, moaning out his exhale. It still smelt like Law. Luffy wasted no time pulling it on and, even though it was small, it still swallowed Luffy when he straightened it out—it fell to about mid-thigh and the sleeves went a few inches past his hands, causing him to roll up the sleeves so he could see them. He grabbed his hat off of the bed, where it was resting when he got off it, and walked over to the door. He knew Law said he’d come to get him, but he was curious. Plus, he could smell the food. He could find his own way to the kitchen. Plus, he really wanted to see Law again…oh and tell him the good news, of course.

An alliance, huh?

_This would be fun!_

* * *

After thoroughly exploring the floor he was on—and not finding much, except for the infirmary and a garage—he finally found the stairs and decided to head on up; he could smell the food up that way and sensed three presences up there as well. About halfway up the stairs, he heard the beginnings of an argument that caused him to hurry up the last few stairs. He walked down the hallway, toward where he assumed the kitchen was, and stopped at the end of it, taking in the three people in the kitchen. He recognized Baby 5, Law’s second, arguing with Law about something, but his eyes then cut over to the younger girl messing with something on the countertop. He didn’t recognize her, but she did somewhat resemble Law.

Before Luffy could say something, the younger girl’s light gray eyes lifted and met his, a smile spreading across her lips a second later.

“Hey, it’s you!” she exclaimed as she ran from behind the countertop to stop in front of him. “Straw Hat Luffy! Hi! I’ve heard so much about you. Is it true that you punched Rob Lucci in the face?”

Luffy could only blink down at her, a little bit confused. He didn’t even know who she was, yet she seemed to know who he was. Before Luffy could open his mouth, the young girl seemed to realize her rudeness and straightened some, holding out her hand.

“I’m Trafalgar D. Water Lammy,” she said with another bright smile. “Nice to meet you!”

Luffy answered the smile with one of his own, finding himself really liking the younger girl. “Monkey D. Luffy,” he said, grabbing her hand and shaking it. “But I guess you already knew that, huh?” She nodded, smile still wide, while he tilted his head to the side. “Are you Torao’s sister?”

“Yup!” she exclaimed brightly. “He’s my older brother.”

Luffy dropped her hand after a firm shake before remembering the question she had asked him before. “Oh, and yeah, I _did_ punch that pigeon guy in the face…and a whole bunch of other stuff, but how did you know that?”

Lammy crossed her arms behind her. “Chimney told us about it.”

“Chimney?” Luffy asked, head tilted. “You know her?”

“Yeah!” Lammy said, starting to walk backward to the kitchen, Luffy following. “I take classes at DMAA, and met her, and the others, there.”

“Oh, my best friend, Zoro, works there.” Luffy said, smiling. What a coincidence! “His dad owns the place.”

“I know!” she said, smiling wider. “Mr. Roronoa teaches my Kendo classes sometimes. He’s really funny.”

“I know, right?!” Luffy said, laughing his usual laughter. Not many people thought so, understandably.

“Lammy.” Both her and Luffy looked over at Law’s voice. “Stop bugging Straw Hat. Is dinner almost ready?”

Lammy stuck her tongue out at Law before giggling and nodding. “Yeah, I was waiting for the chicken to cool down. I was gonna set the table before I saw Luffy come up.”

Law looked over at Luffy, who smiled at him, before back to Lammy. “Well, get to it. I’m sure we’re all hungry.”

Lammy nodded and skipped back over to the kitchen, intending to do just that.

* * *

“That was really good! Sanji would be impressed.” Luffy said as he and Law sat down in the living room once dinner was over. “Tell Lammy thanks again for me.”

The youngest had been corralled upstairs by Baby 5—after a pointed look from Law—to get ready for bed, since she had to be at school early tomorrow morning. Truth was, he’d just wanted to talk to Luffy without Lammy looking over his shoulder.

“I will.” Law said, getting comfortable as he watched Luffy look around. “So, did you talk with your crew about my proposition?”

“Hmm?” Luffy glanced back at Law before then nodding. “Oh, yeah, I did.”

“And?” Law asked, eyebrow raised.

Luffy smiled before laughing. “We’re in.”

Law let out a light sigh of relief at that. “Okay, good.” He glanced at the clock ticking on the wall of his living room, noting the time, before back at Luffy. “Do you need a ride back to your house? It’s getting pretty late.”

Luffy also looked at the clock before shaking his head. “No, I already texted Zoro when we finished eating. He’s on his way to get me.” He glanced over at Law, a light blush on his cheeks and a subdued smile pulling at his lips. “Thanks, though.”

“It wouldn’t have been a problem to take you home, Straw Hat.” Law felt the need to say anyway.

Luffy glanced down at the couch, picking at the fabric. “But you don’t wanna leave Baby 5 or your sister alone, right?”

Law froze as Luffy hit the nail on the head before chuckling. “Right you are.” He sighed as he relaxed into the cushions behind him.

“Torao?” Luffy asked, looking at him curiously.

“If you aren’t against it, I would like to meet up tomorrow morning at school a little early. Say, around six, so we can talk about these attacks. We might learn something new from the information each of us have gathered.” Law said, giving Luffy a questioning look.

After a second of thought, Luffy nodded. “Sure, okay. I’ll let my crew know.”

Law gave him a nod back before snorting when something occurred to him, which got him a questioning noise from Luffy. “I was just thinking…that if you never got attacked, and if I didn’t drive by when I did, we might not have even known our attacks were connected.” He gave Luffy a half-smile. “Funny how some things work out, huh?”

Luffy’s smile spread across his lips even as he looked down, trying to hide his blush again. His reactions to Law were becoming troublesome. “Yeah.” _I’m happy they did, though._

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, a _chime_ came from Luffy’s pocket, causing the teen to take out his phone and check his messages. “Oh, Zoro’s here. That was fast.”

Law looked at him in bemusement. “You sound surprised.”

“Shishishi.” Luffy stood up and stretched after texting Zoro he was coming out. “Zoro’s not really good with directions. I’m guessing someone came with him.”

Law nodded slowly, something making sense now. “Ah, so that’s why someone is always with Roronoa at school.”

Luffy glanced around, trying to find something, before glancing back at Law. “Yeah, if we let him go by himself, he’d never make it to class.” He laughed. “He probably wouldn’t even still be in the school.”

Law’s eyebrow raised. “His sense of direction is that bad?”

Luffy nodded, glancing around him again. “Yup. It’s kinda funny…though Zoro doesn't think so.”

“Looking for something?” Law finally asked as he, too, stood up.

“My bag.” Luffy said before groaning. “Crap, I left it downstairs.” He turned to head to the stairs, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He froze, the tingling spreading throughout his limb, and he had to fight the urge to lean into the touch.

“I got it.” Law said as he dropped Luffy’s arm, much to Luffy’s disappointment, and picked up a pillow before forming a _Room_ ; a quick _Shambles_ later, Luffy’s backpack rested in Law’s hand, replacing the pillow.

Luffy smiled brightly, grabbing the bag. “That’s so cool.”

Law shrugged. “It has its uses.” He then looked at his sweatshirt still on Luffy and—after viscously pushing down the happy feeling he had at seeing Luffy in one of his tops, yet another weird reaction of the day—frowned. “I’m sorry about your top, by the way.”

“Huh?” Luffy asked, looking down at the sweatshirt before back at Law, eyebrow raised.

Law was confused. “Didn’t you wonder why you weren’t wearing a shirt when you woke up?”

Luffy shook his head. He was kind of more concerned at where he was, and then that Law was there and that he was at Law’s house; being shirtless didn’t even cross his mind. “What happened to it anyway?”

Law chuckled some. “I had to cut it off so I could get to your wound.”

Luffy nodded in understanding as he shouldered his backpack, but then looked at Law, fingering the sweatshirt. “Do you want this back?”

Law waved him off. “Don’t worry about it.” He led Luffy to his front door. “Just give it back to me later.”

“Okay.” Luffy nodded, a little bummed. He’d wanted to keep the sweatshirt, since it was _Law’s_ and it still smelt like him.

Law didn’t notice Luffy’s sad tone and opened the front door, moving to let Luffy pass by him.

Luffy spotted Zoro’s silver Ford Mustang GT resting in front of Law’s house, the convertible top down, and that’s when he spotted the reason Zoro was able to get to Law’s so fast. He waved at Perona, who was moving to sit in the backseat, before turning back around to face Law.

He smiled, fixing his hat on his head. “Thanks again, Torao. I really owe you.”

Law was already shaking his head. “Don’t, Straw Hat. You owe me nothing.” He waved at Zoro, who was looking in their direction. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then. Goodnight.”

Luffy had to fight the strong urge to hug Law, so he just smiled again before turning and heading down the front stairs to get to the pathway. Once at the bottom, he turned back to where Law was still standing, illuminated by the light from the foyer, and waved. “Night, Torao!” Law waved back at him before going back inside his house, closing and locking the door for the night.

Luffy made his way over to Zoro’s car and got into the passenger seat, throwing his backpack into the empty seat behind him, before facing his best friend. “Thanks for getting me, Zoro.”

That got him a punch to the shoulder and Zoro snorting. “Idiot. I already told you I would come and get you.”

He turned to look behind him, smiling at the sleepy-looking pink-haired girl. “Thanks for coming with him, Perona.”

Perona rolled her eyes, yawning before waving Luffy off. “As if I could let him go alone. Moron would’ve gotten lost the minute he left our driveway.”

“Hey!” Zoro snapped as he started his car and pulled out of the driveway, heading back to the East Blue District and then to Luffy’s neighborhood, Fusha. “I would not have!”

“Sure, alright.” Perona said, voice laced with sarcasm.

Ignoring his sister, Zoro asked Luffy, “So, did Trafalgar have anything else to say?”

“Oh, I need to text the others.” Luffy said, pulling out his phone and typing in the group message they had, before facing Zoro. “We’re gonna need to be at the school at six tomorrow morning.”

“Why?” Zoro asked, trying not to groan. That was too damn early!

“Torao wants all of us to meet and talk about the attacks and stuff.” Luffy said vaguely, putting his phone away.

The green-haired teen rolled his eyes but nodded. “Okay, okay. I’ll pick you up at 5:45 tomorrow, got it?”

Luffy nodded and Perona groaned from the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope it was okay. It's not my favorite, but I needed a filler to get to the next part. I think I'll have two more chapters that are mostly information-based before we got into the LawLu part of the story. Sorry if its taking too long, but I just wanna establish what's going on and such before delving into the shippy part. :) please forgive me. As always, comments and kudos are welcome! Until next time. Peace and love!


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, I'm back! Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the wait, but this chapter is a bit longer than the others, so it took a little longer to write. Plus, this chapter is filled with a bunch of information. I can't guarantee it, but I'm probably gonna get more into the ship part of this story in the coming chapters. The next one, for sure, since it'll have a few surprises in it. Also, I've made a pinterest board related to this story, containing a bunch of stuff (like their houses, weapons, pets, some outfits and such). The link to my page is on my profile page, and this one will be the last board, named "FF Story: NWPA". As always, if you have any question, just send a comment. Oh! And for those who wished me well about my mouth surgery, I'd like to say thanks. It meant a lot! My mouth is good now, mostly healed. I'm trying to keep updating about every week, but life gets in the way (my job and school, to name a couple) but I'll try my hardest to update as fast as I can. I really wanna finish this. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Like always, I own nothing except for the idea!

Luffy’s alarm went off bright and early at 5:30 the next morning, and he almost threw it out the window before he remembered the reason he was getting up so early. _He’s gonna see Torao!_ Rubbing his eyes and shaking his head free of the dream he vaguely remembered—though he knew it _did_ involve Law and it probably didn’t help that he slept in the sweatshirt Law let him borrow—he jumped out of bed and headed across the hall to the bathroom.

After taking a quick shower—he wasn’t the biggest fan of water, thanks to his Devil Fruit powers—and running back into his room, he went searching for another white dress shirt and dark gray sweater vest, since Law had destroyed the one he’d been wearing yesterday. He wasn’t that upset, as he usually went through them rather quickly, and pulled out brand new ones from the back of his closet (he had a large supply of them). His black dress pants were still in good condition—and the black color hid any blood anyway—so he pulled those on, rolling the bottoms up to his shins, like usual, before pulling on his brown belt; after, he grabbed the shirt and vest and pulled both on, leaving the top two buttons on his shirt undone, before searching his backpack for his aquamarine tie (Law had told him he stuck it in there), putting it on, and then pulled out his black uniform blazer (NWPA’s crest on the left breast pocket), shaking it to get rid of the wrinkles. Once he had everything on, he slipped into his usual black flip-flop straw sandals—he hated closed-toe shoes, so he refused to wear the shoes that came with the uniform—and plopped his straw hat on top of his head before grabbing his backpack and cellphone and headed out of his room, over to the kitchen.

He frowned as he glanced around, not seeing, or sensing, anyone in the kitchen…or in the whole house, actually. He _did_ find a stack of pancakes with bacon on the island in the kitchen, a note resting next to it. Luffy dropped his backpack and hopped onto one of the stools lining the countertop, not even pausing before he dug into his breakfast. Once nothing but an empty plate was left, he picked up the note, wiping his mouth off with a napkin, and read it over.

_Luffy -_

_We’ll be gone for a couple of days on business. There’s food in the fridge, but if you run out, or need anything, go to Makino’s. Or to your brothers’. Stay safe._

_\- Dogra_

Luffy frowned before shrugging. Dadan and the others were always leaving for the city when they had “business” to take care of, so Luffy was used to it. At least they left food this time.

The Dadan Family—whose head was Curly Dadan, Luffy’s foster mother—were a well-known group of bandits and thieves in the East Blue District, and were very good at what they did. Even with their criminal backgrounds, they cared for Luffy—and his brothers, when they still lived there—like they were their own. They protected the boys until they grew up enough to be able to take care of themselves, being pardoned by Luffy’s grandfather in exchange.

Luffy glanced down at his phone, noting that Zoro should be here soon, before he put the dishes away and made his way to the front door. A minute later, a loud _honk_ was heard, so he left his house—making sure to lock up behind himself—and headed to Zoro’s car, idling in the driveway. Throwing his backpack into the trunk, he then walked to the passenger side and slid in, smiling at both Zoro and Perona in greeting.

Zoro was dressed like Luffy, in the boy’s Academy uniform, except for a few notable differences—a dark red belt, brown oxfords, black bandana tied around his left bicep, and, of course, the katanas secured at his right hip. Perona was dressed in the girl’s Academy uniform of a black uniform blazer, with NWPA’s crest on the left breast pocket, worn over top of a white oxford blouse with a dark gray ribbon tied in a bow around the collar, an aquamarine-plaid pleated miniskirt, black tights, and brown laced wedges; leaning against her leg was her own addition to the uniform, a red parasol shaped somewhat like a cute version of a mini-devil.

“Good morning!” Luffy said merrily.

“Morning.” Zoro grumped out, still tired, while Perona just waved at Luffy.

About five minutes passed by in easy silence, everyone still a bit groggy for conversation.

“So,” Perona finally said before stopping to yawn and then continuing, “are the others meeting us there?”

“Yeah, they texted me back last night.” Luffy answered, watching the scenery pass by as Zoro drove them to New World Private Academy. “They’ll see us there.”

“I bet they were _thrilled_ at the time.” Zoro muttered out, taking a turn into the New World District, getting closer to their school.

Perona yawned again. “Not everyone is lazy like you, Zoro.”

“Shut up.” Zoro growled. “You’re barely awake either.”

Luffy just laughed as Zoro and Perona started their usual arguing, smiling as he went back to looking out the window. Closer and closer they got to the Academy, and closer to Torao, and his crew. Luffy was almost…nervous. He didn’t know why, but it was twisting in his stomach, mixing with the usual feeling thinking about Law brought, making his insides feel all jumbled up. Everything would be okay, Law had probably talked to all of his friends already, and they’d all get along. Luffy leaned his head against the window as they got closer. He needed to stop worrying, it’d get him nowhere.

* * *

“Why the hell did you suggest to meet at six o’clock in the freakin’ morning?!” Baby 5 complained, resting completely supine with her head in Law’s lap. “We’re the only ones here, anyway.” She was dressed in the girl’s Academy uniform, as usual.

Law sipped on the large to-go coffee, with several shots of espresso, he’d grabbed on his way into school, sitting comfortably on one of the many benches that were littered about the front courtyard, before looking down at his god-sister. “The others will be here shortly. Stop complaining.” He took another long sip, sighing in contentment as he felt the caffeine start to work. He was wearing the boy’s Academy uniform, though his belt was a sapphire blue color and on his head was his usual hat; resting against his thigh, being held up by the bench, was Kikoku.

“Not all of us can operate on only four hours of sleep, Law.” Baby 5 sassed, rubbing her eyes. “What did the others have to say about your plan, anyway.” Law had filled her in on the proposition he’d made to Straw Hat after Luffy left last night, and Baby 5 wasn’t all that surprised. Only made sense, to be honest, since they were both being attacked by the same group.

“To say they were surprised was an understatement.” Law said dryly. _Completely freaking out would be a better description._ “But I told them that this was for the best, so they understood.”

“You yelled at them and they got over it, you mean.” Baby 5 said in a flat voice, smirking up at Law.

Law, after taking another sip, waved her off. “Same thing.”

She snorted. “To you, maybe.”

Before Law could comment on that, they both felt a presence coming at them, so they looked up to see Bepo—dressed in the boy’s Academy uniform, his belt orange—walking over to join them.

“Morning, Bepo.” Baby 5 greeted as she finally sat up, vacating Law’s lap, and gave the other teen a smile.

“Good morning, Law, Miss Baby.” Bepo greeted respectively, taking a seat across from the duo.

“Thanks for getting here this early, Bepo.” Law said to his best friend, shifting to place his now empty coffee cup on the ground.

“No problem.” Bepo said, playing with his fingers. “It was my pleasure.”

Baby 5 snorted and rolled her eyes. “Don’t lie to make him feel better, Bepo. Being  here this early sucks.”

“I’m sorry!” Bepo shouted, ducking his head down.

“Leave him alone, Baby.” Law said, shoving her to the side slightly. “Let him say what he wants.”

“I’m sorry.” Bepo repeated, quieter this time.

Before Law could wave off the usual apologies, two more people joined the group, one of them exaggeratedly groaning the whole time as they walked over.

“Stop that, Shachi.” Law said, not even looking up from his smartphone—encased in a golden yellow phone case with his crew’s mark on the back—as he checked the time. “I already heard enough of that last night.”

Shachi—also dressed in the boy’s Academy uniform, though his belt was tan with his twin MK 23 (Bolt & Screw) holstered at his back, and he had on his usual hat—rolled his eyes, trading a look with Penguin—dressed similarly as well, though his belt was white, his spear was secured to his back, and his usual cap rested on his head.

“Yeah, yeah,” Shachi waved off as he sat down on another bench. “We hear ya, Captain.”

Law rolled his eyes. Why Shachi—and the others—insisted on calling him that, he’d never understand.

“Are the Straw Hats here yet?” Penguin asked as he took a seat next to Shachi.

Baby 5 shook her head. “Not yet.”

“That’s not a big deal, seeing as Ikkaku, Uni and Clione have yet to join us.” Law said, tapping a beat on his thigh with his fingers, before looking at Shachi. “Have you heard from them?”

The redheaded teen looked up from his smartphone—encased in a pale whitish-yellow phone case—and nodded. “Uni texted me just as we got here. Apparently Ikkaku took forever to get ready or something, but they were on their way.”

“Good.” Law said, nodded. He’s also glad he’d told his crew to get here ten minutes before he’d told Straw Hat they were to meet. It’d look bad if not all his crew were there as the Straw Hats arrived, after all.

“Oh, there they are.” Penguin said, waving as he watched the last three of the crew get out of Clione’s red Chevrolet Captiva, parked next to Shachi’s light silver Toyota Corolla.

The twins were arguing with one another while their foster brother tried to play mediatory between them. Both male were dressed in the boy’s Academy uniform—Uni with a dark brown belt, a gray bandana with vertical black stripes that covered his entire lower-face and went all the way down to his upper-chest, and his weapon attached to his back and Clione with a scarlet red belt, a long dark indigo blue hood, that ended in a tip, and kept his weapon attached to himself by a specialized shoulder holster located underneath his blazer—while the lone female was dressed in the girl’s Academy uniform with her weapon wrapped around her hips and secured to itself and a yellow/pale orange-striped cap on her head.

“Good morning.” Law greeted when they finally reached them.

“Good morning.” Ikkaku said back, sitting next to Shachi, while Uni waved and sat next to Bepo.

“Morning.” Clione said, dropping his backpack down before sitting by Penguin.

“So, are they here yet?” Uni asked, leaning back on his hands as he looked at Law.

Law had to resist rolling his eyes, since that question was literally _just_ answered, but Uni hadn’t been here for that. “No, not yet.”

“Are we sure we can trust them?” Ikkaku asked after a few minutes of silence, typing something out on her silver tablet that she was holding. She was blunt like that, one of the reasons Law enjoyed having her in his crew.

“We can.” Law said immediately. He wasn’t sure why he was so certain about that fact, but, somehow, he knew it was the truth. He could trust the Straw Hats…well, at the very least Luffy. At his out-of-character answer, though, the rest of his crew just looked at him funny. Law had a distrusting personality by nature, so answering a question like that so definitively was…odd.

Baby 5 was the only one who didn’t look at Law funny. She saw something yesterday, when he’d saved Luffy, but she didn’t quite know what it _was_ . As hesitant as she was to say it, there was some sort of _connection_ made between the two. And she’s pretty sure it happened when Law used that “unconventional method” to close Luffy’s wound…or maybe it was before that, since Law went out of his way to save Luffy in the first place, odd behavior for him. Alas, she didn’t have anything else but a gut feeling, so, for now, she’d have to watch and wait…and keep Law safe, of course. Stupid idiot would get himself killed if she didn’t.

“Oh, look, there’s Nico Robin.” Uni said as he looked over at the parking lot, motioning with his head.

True to word, there was Robin, getting out of her white Jaguar XF, and dressed similarly in the girl’s Academy uniform. She tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear and glanced around, seeming to look for something, before glancing down—presumably at her phone.

A second later, an orange Chevrolet Camaro was pulling into the parking lot, followed by a silver Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the convertible top kept up. Once they both had parked, three more members of the Straw Hats exited.

“And there’s Mandarina Nami, Tony Tony Chopper and Nefertari Vivi.” Ikkaku murmured, glancing up for a second before back down.

Both young ladies were dressed in the girl’s Academy uniform, and each had some sort of band around their right upper-thigh—presumably, where their weapons were kept—and Chopper was in the boy’s Academy uniform, his belt a dark blue and his usual hat resting on his head. The trio greeted Robin with a smile before starting to talk. Maybe five minutes went by before two more cars arrived—a black Lincoln Mark LT and a golden Cadillac Escalade. Once the cars were parked, four more members joined the other three—Usopp, Sanji, Kaya and Viola. Both females were also dressed in the girl’s Academy uniform—Kaya wearing it with her weapon held to her hips by a light yellow sash and Viola with a violet band around her left upper-thigh that held her Beretta M9, holstered—and the guys were in the boy’s Academy uniform—Usopp’s belt was brown, looped across his torso was a red-orange satchel, his weapon was attached to his back, and an olive green-plaid bandanna kept his hair back; Sanji’s belt was dark gray and double eyelet-studded and there was a silver chain hanging from the belt loops on his left side.

Baby 5 looked over the group, mentally counting, before turning to look at Law. “Seems we’re missing some still. Straw Hat included.”

Law hummed in understanding, though didn’t say anything. A moment later, another car showed up, a dark blue Hummer H2. This car careened into the parking lot, almost hitting a row of cars, before making a sharp turn and pulling into a parking spot next to the Lincoln. Hopping out of it was Franky, stopping to do his usual pose before greeting his friends, loudly. He was also wearing the boy’s Academy uniform—his belt was red, he wasn’t wearing the sweater vest, and the top half of the dress shirt’s buttons were left undone with the tie on loosely.

“Three more left.” Law muttered to himself. He figured Luffy, Zoro and Zoro’s sister would be showing up together, since Luffy drove with them last night.

“What?” Baby 5 asked, looking over at him.

Law waved her off. “Nothing.”

“Should we wave at them or something?” Shachi asked, pushing his glasses up to rest on his forehead.

Law shook his head. “We’ll wait for Straw Hat.”

The others shrugged.

* * *

“Where is that idiot?!” Nami snapped, looking at her phone again. “He’s the one that told us to get here this early, and then is late himself!” Storm clouds started gathering above her, as usual.

“Nami, calm down. I’m sure he’s on his way.” Vivi soothed, rubbing a calming hand down her girlfriend’s arm.

Nami let out a breath, the clouds dispersing, before nodding. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get so worked up.”

“Well, moss head _is_ driving.” Sanji said, going to reach for a cigarette before his hand was slapped away by his girlfriend. “Oh, sorry, Viola.”

Viola took his hand instead, squeezing it, causing Sanji to lose his trail of thought and sigh happily.

“Perona is with them.” Robin said, leaning back against her car and looking at her smartphone—encased in an amethyst purple case—before back at her friends. “They’ll be here soon.” She closed her eyes, though, arms crossing over her chest as she sprouted an eye on the entrance that Zoro usually took, watching.

“You put way too much faith in Perona’s ability to navigate Zoro correctly.” Usopp said, amusement in his voice.

“Not faith, Usopp.” Robin said, opening her eyes back up, arms dropping. “Knowledge. Perona has been telling Zoro where to go for awhile now. I know she can do it.”

“They’re here, aren’t they?” Nami asked, laughing a little. She saw what Robin did, using her Devil Fruit powers to watch the entrance, and since she opened her eyes, they must be here.

“Yes.” Robin said with her usual smile, looking over as Zoro’s Mustang pulled into the parking lot as well.

Once the car was parked next to Franky’s, the three inside the car hopped out, first heading to the trunk to grab their bags, before joining the rest of them.

“Good morning!” Luffy sung out, giving all his friends a wide smile.

_Smack!_

“You’re late, idiot.” Nami said, crossing her arms while Luffy rubbed his head and pouted.

“We hit a little traffic after we got Luffy.” Zoro said as he wrapped an arm around Robin’s waist and she greeted him with a chaste kiss, resting her hand on his shoulder.

When the others looked over at Perona for confirmation, she nodded. “Some construction was going on.”

The others nodded in understanding while Zoro scowled at the fact that they hadn’t believed him.

“Well, it seems the Heart Crew are already here,” Robin said, looking over at the courtyard and spotting the crew.

“We’ll leave you to it, then.” Viola said, leaning over to kiss Sanji goodbye, Vivi and Kaya doing the same to their significant others, while Perona waved.

While members of the Straw Hat Crew, Vivi, Perona, Kaya and Viola were not _main_ members like the others were, so they weren’t included in things like meetings or “battles” or whatnot, but they were always there to back up the other members if they ever needed it, and the four girls received protection from the crew—if you messed with them, you were messing with the Straw Hats.

“Bye!” Luffy waved, watching as the four walked over to the school, before looking back at his crew. “Well, let’s get going!”

As they walked over to where the Hearts were seated, Luffy watched as Law and his crew all started standing up from the benches they were at.

“Straw Hat.” Law greeted with a head nod at him.

Luffy’s smile widened. “Morning, Torao!”

Law’s eyes seemed to rove over the other Straw Hats before they landed on the youngest member of the crew. “Chopper.” He nodded in greeting, a slight smile on his lips.

“Good morning, Law.” Chopper said cheerfully with a smile and wave, before glancing around behind Law, spotting some of the other Hearts that he had medical classes with. “Hi Bepo, Shachi, Penguin.”

Bepo waved while the other two both greeted the younger teen with a smile and a _“Morning”_.

“Why don’t we move this to the lunch courtyard?” Law suggested, grabbing his bag and nodachi when Baby 5 handed them to him. “There’s more seating there, and it’s privater.”

“Sure.” Luffy said with a shrug.

The rest of the Hearts gathered their things before all of them headed over to the side-gate, and went through it into the lunch courtyard (where they usually had their lunches). Law glanced around for a table before finding a rather large, circular one sitting near the center of the courtyard and started heading over to it, the rest of his crew, Straw Hat and Straw Hat’s crew following.

Once they all settled around it—backpacks and such tucked underneath, out of the way—Law set his hands on the table and looked around. Since he’d suggested this alliance, he’d start this off.

“So,” Law said, causing everyone to look over at him, but his eyes were on the Straw Hats, “I’m assuming Straw Hat filled you in about my proposition?”

They all nodded.

He turned to look at his crew. “And all of you have been filled in about what’s happening.”

His crew nodded as well.

“Good.” Law stated, nodding too. “We’re all on the same page, then, about these attacks.” He paused to collect his thoughts before continuing. “From what Straw Hat was able to tell me last night, our attacks are essentially the same.”

“Luffy said something about marks.” Zoro said, interrupting Law as he looked over at him. “What do they look like?”

Law raised an eyebrow before looking at Luffy, who blinked twice before realization hit him.

“I have that!” He exclaimed, causing some of the people around the table to jump slightly. “Sorry, I forgot to show you it last night, Zoro.” Luffy reached into his front pocket, where he stashed the piece of paper yesterday, and pulled it out. After flattening it, he placed it in the center of the table so the rest of his crew could see it.

A few moments later, they all straightened back up while Robin grabbed the small slip to study closer.

“Three skulls, each facing a different way.” Robin murmured, eyes narrowed some in thought, before she glanced over at Law. “Luffy mentioned that this mark was on the attackers?”

Law nodded. “I’m mostly sure they were on all of them, since the very first attack, but I didn’t really notice it until about halfway through the second week. After that, I made it a point to look.”

“I thought as much.” Robin said, head tilted. “I’m fairly certain I’ve seen this mark on a set of our attackers as well.”

The Straw Hats were stunned into silence.

“But, you never mentioned it.” Nami said, looking at the black-haired girl. “When was this?”

“Last week, I believe.” Robin answer, glancing over at Nami before back at Luffy and Law. “It was when Chopper, Franky and I were walking over to Party’s.”

Both Chopper and Franky exchanged looks, but shook their heads. They didn’t remember any marks.

“I just saw it in passing, but the image stuck with me.” Robin explained, resting her hands lightly on the table as she looked at Luffy. “I should have said something sooner. I apologize for that.” She bowed her head some in apology.

Luffy, though, laughed it off, smiling at her. “Don’t worry about it, Robin.”

“Yeah, how were we supposed to know it was important until Trafalgar brought it up yesterday?” Zoro said, grabbing one of Robin’s hands and squeezing it affectionately.

Robin gave him a smile and squeezed his hand back.

Law cleared his throat some. “This only confirms what I suspected, since I was only going off what I saw on Straw Hat’s attackers yesterday.” He looked over at Robin. “So, it’s a very good thing you were able to see the mark.”

Robin nodded her head once in thanks.

“So, aside from these marks, what else do our attacks have in common?” Baby 5 asked, looking around the table.

It was a very good question.

“Well,” Robin started speaking when no one else did, “the attacks are well planned, and have been going on for a month now. They’re perpetrated by a group neither of our crews are familiar with, and the only clue to their identity is that mark both Law and I have witnessed on the attackers.” She cleared her throat lightly before continuing. “They somehow know about each of us, our weaknesses and such—”

“What do you mean by that?” Ikkaku asked, looking up from her tablet—where she had been taking notes, on Law’s orders.

“From what Luffy told us yesterday, they knew to shoot him with sea stone.” Robin explained. “So, they knew that Luffy’s a Devil Fruit eater.” She looked around, making eye contact with the other two Devil Fruit eaters sitting at the table, besides Luffy—Law and Baby 5. “I’m pretty certain they also know that you two, as well as myself, are Devil Fruit users too, so we’ll need to be more cautious.”

“Right,” Law said, nodding. “This won’t be the last time they use sea stone, now that they saw how effective it was against Straw Hat.”

“Correct.” Robin said, before going on. “I’m pretty certain they have knowledge on other things that could be used against us as well. And then there’s our names. They know those as well.”

“You’re right.” Nami said in understanding. “They’ve always called us out by name when attacking, even if it’s just the “nicknames” we’ve been given.”

Robin nodded. “There’s also something I started noticing after the third or fourth attack.” She tapped her chin. “Their cars.”

“Cars?” Chopper asked, head tilted in confusion.

“They’ve always arrived in cars,” Robin said, glancing around the table, “but after being defeated, those cars are nowhere to be found.”

“She’s right.” Uni said, realization in his tone. “I remember noticing some sort of big car during one of these attacks, maybe two weeks ago, but when I looked around after the fight, it was gone.”

Robin looked over at Law, head cocked in question. “Have I missed anything?”

He shook his head in answer. “No, that pretty much covers everything we know at the moment.”

There was a few moments of silence, only punctuated by Ikkaku typing furiously on her keyboard.

“What are you doing?” her brother finally asked, looking over her shoulder.

She smacked him away before answering. “I’m going to see if I can find the car.”

“How?” Law asked, looking over in interest.

“I’m trying to get into the Districts’ security camera database.” Ikkaku muttered as she continued to type. “They keep all the recordings in their server, but I can’t get past this damn firewall.” A loud _beep_ sounded, causing Ikkaku to curse again.

“Um,” Usopp nervously spoke up, causing everyone to turn to him. “I might be able to help. Could I see that?” He pointed at Ikkaku’s tablet, though the girl narrowed her eyes, considering, so Usopp spoke again. “I’d use my own, but I forgot it at home in the rush to get here this morning.”

After a few more seconds, the brunette passed the tablet over to the curly-haired teen, who grabbed it from her carefully. Once setting it down, he quickly read over the screen, seeing how far she’d gotten, before starting to type himself. The rest of the table watched quietly as Usopp typed quickly, occasionally letting out a grunt or small curse, before, after five minutes, Usopp let out an excited sound and smiled.

“Got it!” he cheered, typing a few more things, before pressing _enter._ “We’re in.” He then passed the tablet back over to Ikkaku.

Ikkaku, though, just looked at Usopp, absolutely flabbergasted. “How the hell did you do that?”

As much as Usopp wanted to boast about his awesome computer skills, he, surprisingly, knew this wasn’t the time. “I’ll tell you later. Maybe show you?”

“But how?” Ikkaku asked again.

Usopp chuckled, trading a look with Nami. “I had a really good teacher.”

Ikkaku nodded, getting her mind back on track, but looked up at Usopp one last time. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Usopp nodded.

“So, what now?” Shachi asked the girl, glancing over her shoulder.

“First, I need to find the exact area that Luffy was attacked in.” Ikkaku said, looking over at her leader. “Captain?”

Law shook his head. “All I know is that it was in the East Blue District.” He looked next to him. “Straw Hat?”

Luffy scratched his head. “I know I was about half-a-mile from Makino’s.” The black-haired teen gave Nami a questioning look.

Nami rolled her eyes, nodding, before rattling off the coordinates to Ikkaku, who entered them in quickly. After a few minutes of looking, she finally landed on the quadrant of cameras that gave the best view of the area.

“About what time was it?” Ikkaku asked, looking over at Luffy.

“Well, I just left the school, so about four?” Luffy said, trading a look with Zoro, who nodded.

“Okay, that’s good.” Ikkaku murmured, setting the time, and after a few minutes, she smiled in success. “Found it.”

She turned her tablet around to face the others and saw, among the six small screens she had running, one that had Luffy on it.

“This is a few minutes before four, so if we play it…” Ikkaku said, pressing another key and the screens all started playing, showing Luffy talking on his phone before putting it away and continuing to walk; a few seconds later, they watched as Luffy seemed to freeze before throwing himself sideways, a knife flying through the area he was just standing in, and then he threw off his backpack and prepared himself for a fight just as about twenty scruffy-looking men surrounded him.

“Okay, this is definitely it.” Law said, recognizing the men he, basically, dismantled, before looking back over at Ikkaku. “Go to the time you first had it on, but go to the cameras a little bit to the north.” The brunette nodded.

“Why north?” Baby 5 asked, a little confused.

“When they surrounded Straw Hat, they seemed to be coming from that direction.” Law explained. “So, maybe that’s where the car is.”

Baby 5 nodded in understanding now.

“Got it.” Ikkaku said a few seconds later, before letting out an unhappy noise.

“What now?” Uni asked, eyebrow raised.

“I was trying to see if I could get a license plate, or any identifying number, really, but they have it covered.” Ikkaku said, frustrated. “All I can tell is that it’s some kind of large black van, but I can’t even tell a make or model.” She huffed before looking over at Law. “Sorry, Captain.”

He shrugged it off.

“How about,” Robin started speaking, everyone turning to look at her, “we try to follow the car backwards?”

She got confused looks, until Nami made a noise of understanding.

“We can’t tell who owns the car, but maybe we can see where it came from.” Nami said, smiling. “That’s brilliant, Robin.”

Robin waved off the praise as she looked over at Ikkaku, who was already doing as Robin said. “Can you do it?”

“Already doing it.” Ikkaku murmured as she focused completely on the screen, trying to follow the van as far back as she could; after a few moments of silence, Ikkaku let out a curse.

“Something wrong?” Baby 5 asked, looking over at her.

“I followed the van as far back as the New World District, but it suddenly vanishes.” Ikkaku said, frustrated.

“Vanishes?” Penguin asked, eyebrow raised.

“I can’t find it on any other cameras.” Ikkaku explained. “Either the car is magical, or the area it originally came from isn’t equipped with security cameras.”

Law snorted. “I don’t think the car is magical, so wherever it came from has no security cameras, which means it’s one of the rougher areas of the New World that the Government basically gave up on.”

Luffy huffed in disappointment; a magical car sounded so cool! Everyone, of course, ignored him.

Robin looked over at Ikkaku. “Does the car stop anywhere between where you lose them and when they attacked Luffy?”

Ikkaku looked back down at her tablet, swiping through the footage she strung together from the several different cameras that had caught the van. “Yes, they do.”

She passed her tablet over to Robin, who took it and looked at the frozen image on the screen. Her lips quirked up into a smile as she tapped on the screen twice, zooming in on the sign hanging over the building’s entrance. She thought so.

“Robin?” Luffy asked, seeing Robin’s usual “I-got-something” smile appear on her face. “What is it?”

“It seems they stopped at a place we’re rather familiar with.” Robin said, passing the tablet over to Luffy, who took it from her.

After a few seconds, Luffy started to laugh his usual laughter.

“Kamabakka?” Law said aloud, also looking at the tablet Luffy held.

“Isn’t that a burlesque club that’s located in the New World District?” Shachi asked, head tilted.

“Yeah.” Nami said, nodding. “Luffy also happens to know the owner.”

The Heart Crew all turned to look at Luffy in surprise.

“Iva’s an old friend of my dad’s.” Luffy said, finally handing the tablet back over to Ikkaku.

“Emporio Ivankov is a friend of your father’s?” Law reiterated in bemusement.

“Yup!” Luffy exclaimed, a smile on his face.

Law just shook his head, astounded.

“Well, that’s a good thing.” Nami said firmly, looking over at Luffy.

“How?” Luffy asked, head tilted.

“If they spent time there—” Nami was interrupted.

“They spent an hour-and-a-half there, going by the time.” Ikkaku cut in, looking at the orange-haired teen, before down at her tablet again, back to typing on it.

“Okay, so they spent a good amount of time there, so they probably ordered drinks. And if they did, they had to pay for it somehow.” Nami hedged.

“I see where you’re going with this.” Robin said, giving Nami a smile, before glancing over at Luffy. “Maybe you could ask Iva if he remembers these guys or if they left behind something on their receipt.”

“Bentham probably got something from chatting with them.” Usopp added, tapping on the table. “He’s good at that.”

Luffy nodded, understanding lighting up in his eyes. “Okay, I can go to Iva’s after school and ask him.”

“I’ll go with you.”

The whole table turned to look at Law when he’d said that, while Luffy blushed as red as a ripe tomato.

“What?” Baby 5 asked, eyebrow raised, though she also somehow guessed he would.

“I’m going with Straw Hat.” Law repeated, resting his chin in his palm. “None of us need to be alone, _especially_ with what happened yesterday,” he gave a pointed look at Luffy, who was currently hiding his blushing face under his hat, “so, we always need to be with someone.”

“We’d been doing pretty good at that until Luffy decided he wanted to go off by himself.” Nami grumbled, glaring over at Luffy, who shrunk back in answer.

“Now that we know more, no more going off alone.” Luffy finally said, pushing his hat to rest over his shoulder blades. “I got it.”

“So, Straw Hat and I will go to Kamabakka,” Law said, glancing around the table. “What about the rest of you?”

Before anyone could speak, Ikkaku spoke. “Well, maybe go get the van out of impound.”

“Huh?” was the general reaction from around the table.

“What are you talking about?” Law asked, looking at the brunette.

Ikkaku looked up. “Since we went backwards to see where the van _came_ from, I decided to see if I could find out where the van _went.”_

“That’s right.” Baby 5, looking over at her god-brother. “I don’t remember a van there when we arrived or left. Do you?”

Law shook his head. “No, it definitely wasn’t.” He tapped his chin. “So this means someone stayed in the car while the attack happened, and when they saw their comrades were losing, they took off.” He then looked back over at Ikkaku. “But you said impound.”

“Yes,” she nodded, glancing up. “The van was ditched about two miles away from where Straw Hat was attacked, so GLBI towed it to their impound lot. From what I can see, it’s still there.” She flipped her tablet around, showing a GLBI tow truck pulling the van away.

“If we can somehow get it out of impound, it might hold some clues.” Robin said thoughtfully. “At the very least, we might be able to find out where it came from.”

“But how?” Clione asked the questioned most were thinking.

“Zoro,” the green-haired teen looked over at his leader, “why don’t you ask your sister?”

“His sister?” Law asked, eyebrow raised. “How would Perona be able to help?”

“Not her.” Zoro said, shaking his head. “My other sister. She’s older than me and Perona.”

“But how—”

“Tashigi is also an agent with the GLBI.” Luffy said with a wide smile.

“ _Probationary_ Agent, Luffy.” Zoro reminded him. “She might not be able to do something like that yet.” He crossed his arms. “And I don’t wanna get her in trouble with her bosses or something.”

Baby 5 sighed in aggravation, causing everyone to look at her. “I only wish Cora was in town.”

Law let out an annoyed breath as he understood her words. “That’s right. Cora- _san_ or even Ice could get it out for us. But they aren’t even here.”

“Who?” Luffy asked, looking at Law and Baby 5.

“My adoptive dad and his boyfriend are both in the GLBI too, though they’re higher up than Zoro’s sister seems to be.” Baby 5 answered, waving her hand in the air.

“Cora- _san_ is a Deputy Assistant Director with the Supernatural Branch and Kuzan is an Executive Assistant Director there.” Law explained when he saw the questioning looks. “But, like we said, they’re both out of town right now.”

“Guess we’ll stick with Tashigi then.” Zoro said, before look over at Luffy with a smirk. “Unless you wanna ask your grandpa for help?”

The look Luffy made with his face was like someone told him that all the meat in the world had suddenly become vegetables—horrified surprise.

“What’s wrong with his grandfather?” Law asked after seeing Luffy’s expression, glancing over at Zoro. “Or _who_ is he, I should ask, and how could he help?”

“His grandfather is crazy.” Zoro answered, completely deadpanned, while the other Straw Hats nodded and Luffy shook himself from his shock.

“He also works at GLBI.” Luffy stated, scratching his neck. “The, uh, what’s it called?” He looked over at Robin.

“Deputy Director.” Robin supplied, and the Straw Hats, as well as the Hearts, watched as Law and Baby 5’s jaws dropped.

“You’re grandfather is Monkey D. Garp?!” Baby 5 said, completely astonished.

“You know him?” Luffy asked, surprised.

“We met him once or twice when we’d visit Cora- _san_ and Sengoku.” Law said, shaking off the shock. “And he was, um, he was…”

“Bat-shit insane.” Zoro provided for him, laughing. “We are well aware.” He snorted. “You do not wanna know what he put Luffy and his brother through for the sake of training.”

Luffy shook his head quickly, not wanting to remember, and Law saw that, so he let that topic go…for now.

“But, wait, you guys know Sengoku?” Luffy asked, when he’d remembered what Law said. “He’s the boss of everything there, right?”

“The Director, yes.” Law nodded. “And Sengoku is like a grandfather to Baby 5 and her family. He raised Cora- _san_ and his brother after their parents died, and since my mother was good friends with them, and often over at their home, she knew Sengoku quite well too. So, when my sister and I were born, we were raised very closely to Baby 5 and her family.” That was why Corazon was made his and Lammy’s godfather, after all.

The Straw Hats nodded, understanding.

“But, yes, if it comes down to it, we could ask Sengoku or Straw Hat’s grandfather, but I’d rather not involve the higher-ups of GLBI just yet.” Law said, his gaze moving back over to Zoro. “So, if you wouldn’t mind, Roronoa…”

“I’ll ask her.” Zoro said, waving it off.

“And if you’re able to get it, you guys can _supah_ bring it to Tom’s garage.” Franky said, loudly, like usual.

“What?” was the Hearts general reaction.

“Franky’s adoptive father owns a mechanic/carpentry/auto shop called Galley-La & Tom’s Workers.” Robin explained, not noticing how Clione and Shachi’s eyes widened at the name. “It’ll have the room and the tools necessary to tear the van apart.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Shachi said, crossing his arms in the air like a referee calling time-out on a game, before looking over at Franky. “ _You’re_ dad owns Galley-La  & Tom’s Workers?! That place is legendary, and so is Tom.”

The Straw Hats did not know that, but Franky just smiled widely before jumping into his usual pose. “I’m _supah_ happy you think so!”

“Anyway,” Law said, clearing his throat loudly to get everyone’s attention while Franky sat back down, “is there anything else we can think of to do?”

“Well, you and I are going to Iva’s,” Luffy said, holding up his fingers to count everyone off, “Zoro’s going to see his sister—”

“I’ll go with him.” Robin said from beside Zoro.

“Yeah, good idea. Moss head is liable to get lost if you don’t.” Sanji snarked, tapping his fingers on the table.

“What was that, curlycue?!” Zoro shouted, looking like he was about to spring up.

 _“Not now!”_ Nami shouted, giving both guys withering glares that had both of them sitting back down quietly.

The Hearts were impressed, and a little frightened.

“Could I also come along with you two?” Baby 5 asked after a quick look from Law. “If your sister can’t get it out, I can go talk to Sengoku.”

Zoro shrugged while Robin smiled and nodded in affirmation.

“Bring Bepo with you, just in case.” Law added, looking at his best friend, who nodded, before back at Baby 5, who shrugged.

Luffy continued on. “Okay, so that leaves Franky going to his dad’s garage—”

“Clione and I would like to go with Franky, if that’s okay?” Shachi asked after trading a look with the other mechanic-in-training.

“Sure.” Franky said, shrugging with a wide smile. “I’d _supah_ like to have you along.”

“I was thinking about something.” Usopp stated, getting everyone’s attention. “Since we confirmed that someone actually _is_ dropping these guys off, maybe we could go through all the camera feeds to find the other cars.”

Ikkaku was already nodding. “And, maybe, we could get lucky and one of the cars could have an uncovered license plate or something else we could get an identification from.”

“You’re right.” Usopp said, picking up the train of thought again. “They might have been sloppy in the earlier attacks.”

“Can you two collaborate on that?” Law asked, looking between the two hackers. “It might make things go faster.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Usopp said while Ikkaku merely nodded.

“You guys can go to MIKAN.” Nami suggested, crossing her arms over her chest. “We don’t open ‘till way later and Nojiko will be there. She could help out if she’s not too busy.”

“Wait a second, _MIKAN?”_ Baby 5 asked, looking at Nami with raised eyebrows. “How are you connected to one of the most popular clubs in the East Blue District?”

“My mom owns it.” Nami said, a sly smile curling at her lips. “And my sister is the Night Manager.”

“This Nojiko you mentioned?” Baby 5 asked.

“Yeah.” Nami answered.

“She’s also an incredibly talented hacker.” Usopp said, leaning on the table. “She’s the one who helped me hone my amazing skill, after all!”

“So, we can hang out there while these two do their thing.” Nami said, smiling. “I’ll go with them, of course, and MIKAN is incredibly safe.”

“I’ll go with them too.” Penguin said with a shrug.

“Okay, then, that’s everybody!” Luffy exclaimed happily, because he knew both Sanji and Chopper had to go to their jobs after school, so they couldn’t really help out this time.

Law huffed out some laughter at Luffy’s enthusiasm. “I guess it is.” He glanced around as he saw, felt and heard more and more people starting to arrive at the school. “And just in time too.”

“Shishishi.” Luffy laughed, glancing around. “Guess so.” He then looked at Law. “Are we gonna leave straight from here or can I stop at home to change?”

Law nodded. “We should all just change before doing what we need to do. No use messing up the uniforms or giving the people after us an easier target to spot.” He took his phone out, brought up his contact list, and then handed it to Luffy. “Put your address and number in. It would probably be easier this way to get into contact with each other.”

Luffy blushed some but took the phone and entered the information in before giving it back to Law. Law, after looking it over, nodded and pressed Luffy’s number, calling him so he’d have _his_ number too.

“I’m going to stop at my house to change but I’ll leave straight from there to get you from your place.” Law explained, pocketing his cellphone again. “That sound okay, Straw Hat?”

Luffy nodded. “Yup!” He then looked over at Zoro. “Can you drop me off—” His question was cut off by Zoro smacking him in the head, causing Luffy to then laugh. “Okay, okay, stupid question.”

“Damn right it was.” Zoro said, because he had already planned on doing so anyway.

Law reached underneath to grab his bag and nodachi, laying the bag on the table and setting Kikoku beside him, the others starting to get their stuff together too, before he looked at Luffy. “I’ll text you when I’m on—”

He cut himself off when he felt two presences he’d recognized walking over to the table they were sitting at, Luffy glancing behind himself as well, since he probably felt it too.

“Well, well, well,” a familiar low, gravely voice from a redheaded teen called out, “don’t this look cozy?”

Law’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “What the hell do you want, Eustass?”

“Just wanted to know when you suddenly became buddy-buddy with Straw Hat, here.” Eustass Kid drawled out as placed a hand on Law’s shoulder, just to annoy him.

The usual argument started between the two teens, but Luffy didn’t even notice because all he could focus on was the fact that Kid was _touching_ Torao. He didn’t like that, not one bit. Unbeknownst to himself, he had started to growl, low and threatening in the back of his throat as his eyes started turning to a blood red of his Vampire-half. Zoro, who was sitting next to him, heard the low sound come from Luffy and, when he looked at him, was surprised to see Luffy’s eyes changing color. Luffy was about two seconds from tearing Eustass’ throat out…and just because he was casually touching Law.

Zoro felt Robin’s hand land on his shoulder, and he knew she realized what was going on, before Zoro clamped a hand around Luffy’s wrist and tugged on it, hard. Luffy was instantly snapped out of his murderous haze and he looked back over at Zoro, who was looking at him with something akin to worry, as was Robin.

“Calm down, Luffy.” Robin said soothingly, though had her arms crossed, just in case she had to sprout some limbs to tether Luffy down.

Luffy blinked some more, shaking his head to clear it. What the hell was that?! That had never happened before to him. Law was flirted with and hit on by numerous people, but that had never made him want to commit murder before. He had no claim on Law, no reason to get mad if someone else touched him, so why did it feel like someone was clawing at his heart? These intense feelings, they made no sense at all!

“You’re an annoyance, Eustass.” Law finally growled out, completely oblivious to Luffy’s problem, before holding out his right hand and muttering, _“Room”,_ making sure the blue orb stretched to encompass the entire school campus.

And before Kid, or Killer (who’d come with Kid), could say anything, Law flicked his wrist and with a _“Shambles”_ , the two were suddenly replaced with rocks from the parking lot.

“Much better.” Law said in relief, dropping his _Room_.

“We should get going, Law.” Baby 5 said, handing him his bag and nodachi as the rest of the crew stood from the table too.

He nodded before looking back over at the Straw Hats, before his gaze landed on Luffy. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way to get you, okay?”

Luffy just nodded, his mind still a little jumbled.

“See you later.” Law said as he waved before he and his crew all walked off, heading to the school.

“Well, that was fun.” Nami finally said, running her fingers through her hair, before looking over at Zoro. “Have you texted your sister yet?”

Zoro had already taken out his smartphone—encased in a forest green case—before glancing up at Nami. “Was just about to.”

“I just texted Tom to let him know to reserve one of the more private stations so we have somewhere to put the van,” Franky said, putting away his sky blue-encased smartphone.

Nami nodded as she brought out her own phone. “And I’m texting Nojiko to let her know the plan.”

“I’m sorry I can’t do anything tonight.” Chopper apologized, playing with his fingers nervously. He really wanted to help, but not showing up at the hospital wasn’t an option, especially since his mother would kill him if he did so.

Sanji sighed out. “Me too. If I could get out of work, I would, but the old man would beat the shit out of me if I did.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Luffy waved off, finally back in his normal frame of mind. “You can always help, even if you are working.”

“How?” Chopper asked, Sanji also looking at Luffy in confusion.

“Well, Chopper, you’re at the hospital.” Luffy said, resting his arms on the table.

“That’s very true.” Robin said, taking over the explanation. “Be on the look out for the mark we’ve described. One of our attackers, or someone associated to them, could come in for some unrelated thing, and we would suddenly have information.”

Chopper looked a lot more perked up. “That’s right!” He nodded assertively. “I’ll keep my eyes open.”

“Good,” Robin said with her usual serene smile, before looking over at Sanji. “Same thing with you, Sanji. The Baratie is one of the most popular restaurants in the Districts, after all. A lot of people come and go from that place everyday.”

“Right you are, Robin- _chwan_.” Sanji sighed out softly, giving her a smile. “As always.”

“Which is more than what _you_ can say, love cook.” Zoro muttered, crossing his arms.

Sanji, somehow _knowing_ Zoro just insulted him, turned a glaring eye on him. “What did you just say, you directionless cactus?!”

_Smack! Bang!_

Nami sat back down while Zoro and Sanji nursed their new wounds. “I warned you two.”

Before anything else could be said, the loud ringing of the first warning bell cut through the air. The Straw Hats all started gathering their things and standing up.

“We should meet in the parking lot, go over any last minute things, before heading back to our houses to change.” Nami said to Luffy, who nodded.

“Good idea.” Luffy smiled, glancing around at his crew as Zoro came to stand next to him. “We’ll see you guys at lunch.”

They all said their goodbyes as they went off to their separate classes, leaving Luffy and Zoro alone as they headed to their classes, which were located near each other. They walked in companionable silence before Zoro felt he had to bring it up.

“Are you okay, Luffy?” he asked, looking at his best friend.

“Huh?” Luffy asked, confused, since he wasn’t paying attention to anything particular at the moment.

“Earlier, when you looked about ready to tear Eustass’ throat out.” Zoro explained. “What was that about?”

Luffy was already shaking his head. “I don’t know, Zoro. It was really weird.” He clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly, trying to describe what he was feeling to Zoro. “It was, like, he shouldn’t touch Torao, or shouldn’t be allowed to, and it made me so angry when it happened and that Torao wasn’t paying attention to me and…” He sighed. “I don’t know.”

Zoro, on the other hand, _did_ know. “Possessiveness.”

“What?” Luffy asked, confused.

“The feeling you were describing? That’s possessiveness.” He ran a hand through his green hair. “It’s a rather complex emotion, actually.”

“But, I’ve liked Torao for three years now.” Luffy said as they jogged up a flight of stairs to the next floor. “Why would I just _now_ start feeling that?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Zoro said, sighing, feeling a little useless as Luffy looked at him like he had all the answers. “The only thing I can guess is that something changed. And it probably changed yesterday.”

“When Torao saved me.” Luffy said in realization.

Zoro nodded as they got closer to their classrooms. “I don’t know what he did when he saved you, but whatever it was, it changed something inside you.” They both stopped outside the room Zoro was to go in. “But if you want to know what it is, you’re gonna need ask Trafalgar.”

Luffy winced. That’s what he was afraid of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if you couldn't tell, I've been watching a lot of CSI lately, so if some parts came across like that, there's the reason. Oh, and GLBI stands for Grand Line Bureau of Investigation (like FBI). It'll play more of part later on. I hoped all of you enjoyed the chapter. I felt pretty good about it. I started trying to build up a little something-something between Law and Luffy. Hope I did okay. Comments and kudos are always appreciated. Until the next chapter! xxoo


	5. Five

School passed by quickly after that.

Luffy waved goodbye to Zoro from his front door before heading inside and going straight to his room to change. Once he threw his uniform off into a heap on his desk, he grabbed a dark teal short-sleeved button-up, with two light blue “X”s in the center, from his closet, shrugging it on but leaving it open, before slipping on a pair of light red jean shorts with thick, red fluffy cuffs; once he put his phone and wallet into his pockets, he slid his sandals back on and plopped on his straw hat before heading to the kitchen to grab a quick snack before Law arrived to get him.

He got the warning text from Law that he was on his way halfway through his snack, which consisted of a few slabs of meat, and once he finished it did a _honk_ sound from the driveway. His smile widened before he wiped off his mouth and headed for the front door, exiting from it and locking it, then ran for the black Porsche that was waiting for him. He hopped into the passenger side and turned to look at Law, smile wide on his face.

“Hi, Torao!” Luffy greeted, putting on his seatbelt.

Law rolled his eyes at the nickname, again, before nodding in greeting. “Hello, Straw Hat. Are you ready to go?”

“Yup!” Luffy exclaimed, literally bouncing with excitement before glancing over at Law and saw what he’d changed into—one of his usual sweatshirts, the color gray and black this time, along with the spotted jeans, black boots and his usual hat. With a glance to the backseat, he spotted Law’s long sword—which Zoro had told him was called a nodachi when he’d asked.

“Were you home alone, Straw Hat? I didn’t sense anyone in the house with you.” Law asked, curious, as he pulled out of the driveway and started the trip to the New World District.

“Hm?” Luffy questioned before turning to face Law again and laughing. “Oh, yeah, I was. Dadan and the others are in the city right now.”

“Dadan?” Law asked.

“I live with her and her Family.” Luffy said, leaning back in the seat, back to looking out the window. “My brothers did too before they got old enough to live on their own.”

“Do you not live with your parents?” Law asked, continuing to follow the roads.

“I only have my dad. My mom died a little after I was born, but no, I don’t live with my dad.” Luffy said, shaking his head.

Law gave him a quick look at how breezy he made losing one of his parents sound before conceding that, since Luffy was just a baby when his mother died, then he probably didn’t have any memories of her, so he shook that thought off.

“Why don’t you live with him then?” Now Law was more than a little confused. If his father was still alive, why not live with him?

“Not really sure.” Luffy replied with a shrug. “Something about dad pissing off a lot of people and me being a target or something.” He looked over at the other teen. “At least, that’s what Gramps told me and Ace.”

“Why not live with your grandfather then?” The look Law received for that question was actually comedic—Luffy looked like you had just punched him in the gut before dragging him through cold water. With what he knew about the man, as well as stories Sengoku would sometimes tell them, Law decided that reaction was completely acceptable. “Okay, stupid question. But what’s your connection to this Dadan?”

Luffy tilted his head in thought. “She’s our foster mother, I think. Gramps arrested her a few times before, nothing bad, but after Ace’s parents died, a little before my mom did, I think, Gramps sent him and me to live with her and the other bandits.”

So many questions. Law had so many questions, he didn’t know where to start. “Bandits?”

“Yeah. Dadan is head of the Dadan Family.” Luffy said, but didn’t say anything else, not finding the need to.

He hadn’t needed to anyway. Law had heard whispers about the Dadan Family, mostly from Corazon and Sengoku, a big crime “organization” that was mostly made up of bandits and thieves that resided in the East Blue District. And Luffy was apparently raised by them. Interesting.

“Your family life sounds very…complicated, Straw Hat.” Law finally decided on saying.

“Really?” Luffy said, head tilted like he didn’t get it.

“So, was your dad the Slayer or your mom?” Law asked after a few more minutes of silence went by, deciding to change the subject slightly.

Luffy looked over at Law. “Oh, my dad. Gramps is too. My mom was the Vampire.” He twiddled his fingers some before asking, “What about you?”

It took Law a second to realize what Luffy was asking. “The same, actually.” A pause. “And your brother, he’s like us too, right?”

“Yup.” Luffy nodded, wide smile in place though cheeks lightly dusted red. Law had said _like_ **_us_**. He liked that. “But Ace’s parents are the opposite.”

“What?” Law asked while flicking on his turn signal.

“Ace’s mom was the Slayer, his dad the Vampire.” Luffy explained, scratching his head.

Law glanced over at Luffy quickly before back at the road, a little surprised. “A female Slayer? You don’t see that very often.”

“Yeah.” Luffy said with a nod before turning to look out the window, watching the scenery go by, and the conversation died out after that.

The rest of the trip to Kamabakka passed in relative silence, as Luffy, for once, was too nervous to continue prattling on about anything that came to mind like he usually would. Plus, Zoro’s words from earlier were now playing in his head, about how he’d needed to ask Law what he did when he’d saved him, and how that would cause Luffy’s feelings about him to change the way they did. Now, Luffy wasn’t one to shy away from any challenge that popped up to him, but this was different from anything he’d ever faced before. His emotions were on the line now. To be able to explain to Law about why he was asking about what he did yesterday, he’d have to bring to light his own feelings for the older teen. And Luffy wasn’t ready for that. Not yet, anyway.

* * *

“Did you talk with Luffy?” Robin asked from the passenger seat of Zoro’s Mustang, fingers intertwined with his.

After Zoro had dropped Luffy off at his house, he first went to his own place, changed his clothes, then went to the West Blue District to pick up his girlfriend. Zoro was now wearing a charcoal gray short-sleeved button-up, left open, dark green jeans messily tucked into black combat boots, a dark red belt, his green haramaki, and the black bandana tied around his bicep; resting in the backseat were his three katanas. Robin was now in a tangerine orange sleeveless, pleated minidress with a scooped-back and silver rivets over the chest and lining the back neckline and black high-heeled, knee-high boots. Now, the two were off to the Grand Line Bureau of Investigation (GLBI), which, like every other major, or high-powered, organization, was located in the New World District.

“Talk about what?” Zoro asked, about to take a turn before a sharp pull on his hand had him turning the other way. He’d totally meant to do that.

“What happened earlier.” Robin said calmly, hiding her smile when Zoro grumbled about knowing where he was going. “With him and Law and Kid.”

“Oh, that.” Zoro said with a nod, glancing over at Robin before back at the road. “Yeah, I did, on our way to first period.”

“And?” Robin said before squeezing on his hand, causing Zoro to go the opposite way he was about to go. Again. “What did Luffy have to say about it?”

“He was just as confused as we were about his reactions.” Zoro explained, thinking back to Luffy’s words.

_“It was, like, he shouldn’t touch Torao, or shouldn’t be allowed to, and it made me so angry when it happened and that Torao wasn’t paying attention to me and… I don’t know.”_

“Interesting.” Robin said when Zoro repeated what Luffy had told him earlier. “Almost sounds like…”

“I told him possessiveness, but that wasn’t the first thing to pop into my head when Luffy said that.” Zoro interrupted, looking at Robin uneasily.

Robin nodded slowly, finger of her free hand tapping her chin thoughtfully. “He’s acting like he put a claim on Law.” She glanced down at her and Zoro’s entwined hands with a smile, before frowning again as her mind went back to the problem. “But I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“Right.” Zoro replied, taking another turn—correctly, this time—before continuing on with his thoughts. “For that to happen, the feelings would have to be equal on both sides, and a blood exchange would have to be done.” He snorted. “And I’m pretty sure Luffy would have told me if he’d given Trafalgar any of his blood. Or vice versa.”

“But that’s the strange part.” Robin said, her mind still whirling, trying to connect the dots. “Only _Luffy’s_ behavior has changed. Law didn’t show any of the reactions that a claiming would cause.”

“Only Luffy did.” Zoro muttered in understanding. “So, on the very, _very_ off-chance a claiming _was_ done, it’s one-sided.”

“Only Law has Luffy’s blood.” Robin continued _her_ claimed’s line of thought. “But I didn’t smell any difference to Law. Did you?”

Zoro shook his head _no_.

“So, Law only got a very small amount of Luffy’s blood.” Robin surmised, back to tapping her chin. “When did it happen, though?”

“Like I told Luffy,” Zoro said, glancing over at Robin before back at the road, “something happened when Trafalgar saved him. But no one, except him, knows what that is.”

“Actually, that might not be true.” Robin said as they continued to get closer to GLBI.

That got her a raised eyebrow from her boyfriend.

“I’m pretty certain Law’s god-sister was there as well.” Robin said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Baby 5?” Zoro asked, taking another turn after Robin’s prompting. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, I haven't seen her car in the parking lot for the past month.” Robin said.

“So?” Zoro asked. “Trafalgar has probably been picking her up from her house, like I’ve been doing with Luffy.”

Robin smiled and Zoro forced himself not to roll his eyes; of _course_ she’d already thought of that. Fucking genius.

“There’s also what she said when we were talking about the cars earlier.” Robin explained, tugging on Zoro’s hand again so he wouldn’t miss another turn.

“What was that?” Zoro asked.

“She asked Law if he remembered seeing a car when they came upon the scene of Luffy’s attack.” Robin said.

“So?”

“That means she was _with_ Law when he saved Luffy, otherwise, why ask that? And given that Luffy got shot with a sea stone bullet, there wouldn’t have been time to drop her off at her own house, so she went back to Law’s with him. They’re both Devil Fruit users, they understand the pain sea stone causes better than anyone.” Robin further explained, seeing when Zoro understood what she was saying.

“Probably helped out too, if what you’re saying is right. The Hearts are scary good with medical stuff, according to Chopper.” Zoro muttered, watching as the GLBI finally came into sight.

“We could ask her what happened last night.” Robin finished with. “Given that she’ll be here as well.”

“Couldn’t hurt, I guess.” Zoro said with a shrug as he pulled into a parking spot and turned off his car.

Robin laughed lightly before something at the entrance of the large building caught her eye. “Oh, there’s Tashigi. Good timing.”

The two got out of the Mustang, Zoro reaching back to grab his katanas, and then locked it before heading over to where his sister was waiting. Rather impatiently, if the tapping of her foot was any indication.

21-year-old Rial Tashigi was Zoro and Perona’s older adoptive sister, with her Supernatural half being Seelie Fae, like Robin. She’s 5’7”, and had hip-length, straight dark navy blue hair, pinned up by a red clip, with twin shoulder-length side-locks and a few strands covering her forehead, dark brown eyes covered by red rectangular spectacles, light tan skin, sharpish canine teeth, and a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure. Like Zoro, her fighting skills lied in Kenjutsu and Kendo, and she was formidable with her weapon, a katana by the name of Shigure.

She was wearing a purple oxford blouse with light pink pinstripes, the top few buttons left undone and sleeves rolled up, black dress pants, a black belt, containing Shigure attached to the right side, and dark pink suede stilettos.

“Took you long enough.”

* * *

“Pull around back.” Luffy instructed when the two of them finally reached Kamabakka.

Law gave Luffy a questioning look before following the teen’s instructions. Once around back, he pulled into an open parking spot and put his car in _park_ before turning it off. Both teens hopped out of the car, Law reaching in the back for Kikoku before locking it, and they headed over to what looked like a backdoor.

Luffy rapped on it a couple times, loudly, before stepping away, rocking back on his heels. A second later, the door was then slowly pushed open before a very interesting looking guy peeked out. When he spotted Luffy, though, the door was thrown open all the way and the man grabbed Luffy, pulling him into a hug.

“Luffy, my dear!” the man sung out, pulling back to look at him. “How nice to see you!”

“Hi, Bentham!” Luffy greeted back with a smile.

This Bentham looked about 6’3” and had short, bowl-cut black hair, dark blue eyes, light tan skin, a slim wiry build, and decorating his face was heavy face make-up. If that wasn’t enough to convince someone of what, exactly, this man was, his outfit spoke volumes: a pink overcoat lined in white with a furry white collar and two large swan heads coming from the shoulders worn over an azure blue dress shirt covered in sky blue swirls, dark blue/sky blue-striped puffy shorts, a light red belt, and light pink ballet slippers.

Yeah, this man was _definitely_ an okama. Fit with what was known about Kamabakka.

“Ooo, and who is this scrumptious piece of man you have with you?” Bentham asked when he caught sight of Law.

Before Law could answer, though, Luffy was suddenly standing in front of him, and whatever facial expression he was wearing was enough to widen the other man’s eyes before he smirked and nodded. Law only wished he saw whatever that was.

“Trafalgar Law,” he finally answered, nodding his head once.

There was another smirk on his face but said nothing as Bentham moved out of the way, inviting both teens inside. Once in, Law realized they were in a back room that rested next to what seemed to be a kitchen with another hallway leading to a closed door. Probably some kind of office area. The area must be soundproofed, because he couldn’t hear anything from the front of the building, but Law knew it was full, given what he saw of the parking lot out front.

“So, is Iva here?” Luffy finally asked, once tearing his senses away from the kitchen, that is. “I need to talk to him.”

Bentham, after signing something when someone had stopped him, looked back over at the two teens, head tilted. “Yes, Iva’s here. But he’s in a meeting right now.” When he saw Luffy’s expression drop slightly, he chuckled before continuing with, “But he should be finishing up soon. You two are more than welcome to hang around until he’s done.”

Luffy instantly perked up at that before turning to face the kitchen. “Food?”

A smack hit him on the back of the head, causing him the whirl around to see…Torao?! Did _Law_ just smack him?

“We’re not here for dinner, Straw Hat.” Law said, crossing his arms over his chest, readjusting his hold on Kikoku. Once he saw how effectively smacking Luffy worked for Nami, he’d decided to try it out. Going from the stunned look Luffy was giving him, it seemed to have worked.

Bentham looked between the two teens, hiding a giggle. _They were so adorable!_

“Torao!”

Well, the silence didn’t last for long.

* * *

“Well, here we are.” Nami said as she led the group into MIKAN.

“Sorry it took so long.” Usopp apologized, rubbing the back of his head. “And that you needed to come get me.”

Nami waved him off. “Fewer cars is better.”

Once school let out, the four who were heading to MIKAN went to their houses first to change before meeting at the nightclub, though Nami had to detour to go pick Usopp up from his house after his car refused to start. Nami had changed into a violet stomach-baring camisole with black lace trimming the V-neck and black straps, black jean short-shorts, a black belt with a silver berry symbol-buckle, where her Clima-Tact was kept, and light brown high-heeled sandals. Usopp was in brown overalls, with the cuffs rolled up to his shins, over a moss green t-shirt, a white sash tied around his waist, and tan ankle boots with a slight lift; a blue/white-striped armband was around his left forearm and over his hair now was an off-white bandanna.

Penguin and Ikkaku had changed as well. Penguin was now wearing a yellow long-sleeved henley with the buttons left undone, dark jeans tucked messily into black combat boots, a beige belt, his weapon attached to his back, and his usual hat. Ikkaku was in a gray short-sleeved top with a wraparound front, destroyed jeans, a light gray belt, containing her weapon, and nude ballerina pumps.

“Nami? Usopp?” a voice from behind the bar sounded before a woman came into view. “Is that you?”

“Hey, Nojiko.” Nami greeted her sister, going over to give her older sister a hug.

21-year-old Mandarina Nojiko was 5’9” and had scapula-length, wavy periwinkle blue hair, parted to the right, with a dark red ribbon tied as a headband, azure blue eyes, medium tan skin, and a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure; on her lips was pale pink lipstick, around her right wrist was a gold bangle, and her right arm and chest were heavily tattooed in indigo-purple with a heart at the center of her clavicle with two swirls coming off either side, an intricate set of swirls over her deltoid and bicep, and three rings circling right above her elbow with a ring of dots underneath. She was dressed in the usual outfit she wore while at MIKAN—a black cropped leather jacket over a white sleeveless, V-neck crop top, trimmed in royal blue, with a print of the MIKAN logo covering the front, dark jean shorts-shorts, a black mikan-buckled belt, where her weapon (a spear by the name of Nigri Frameam) was kept, and purple wedges. Like her sister, Nojiko was also half-Human/half-Weather Witch, and was a master in Sōjutsu.

“And this must be the friends you told me about.” Nojiko said as she pulled back and looked over Nami’s shoulder at the two people she didn’t know.

“I’m Penguin and this is Ikkaku.” Penguin introduced them, Ikkaku giving a wave.

“Nojiko, but I guess my dear sister already told you that.” Nojiko said with a smile, resting her hand on her hip. “Though I don’t quite know what you all are doing here. Nami was quite vague.”

“We just needed a safe place to hack.” Usopp explained as he placed his bag down on the bar top and hopped onto one of the stools lining it before grabbing his silver Chromebook and placing it down.

“Ooo, sounds interesting.” Nojiko said, walking back around the bar to face Usopp. “What are you hacking into?”

“The Districts’ security system database, though Usopp had already done that earlier.” Ikkaku answered as she moved to sit down next to Usopp.

“That’s my boy!” Nojiko cheered, trading a high-five with the teen.

“Nojiko, are Nami and Usopp here?” a voice from the back of the club called out. A _familiar_ voice.

“Koala?” Nami called back, before looking over at Nojiko with an eyebrow raised.

“She came by to help me restock and organize, since the firm didn’t have any cases they needed her on.” Nojiko explained, looking up from the computer screen Usopp was showing her.

“I thought I heard your voice,” the woman known as Koala said as she came out of the storeroom. “Good to see you guys. Is Luffy with you?”

Fólshot Koala was 5’3” and had nape-length, wavy orange brunette hair with choppy bangs swept to the right, distinctively large, round navy blue eyes, fair skin, a slim, well-endowed, hourglass figure, and covering her back was a stylized maroon sun tattoo. Her Supernatural half was Mer-Folk and she happened to be Luffy’s older brother’s girlfriend. She was wearing her usual MIKAN uniform—a white V-neck tee, trimmed in light pink, with a print of the MIKAN logo covering the front, a black leather miniskirt with a maroon waistband, white stockings, and light pink high-heeled, mid-calf riding boots; topping her head was her usual crimson newsboy cap with gold goggles wrapped around it.

“Nah, he’s at Kamabakka, checking out something.” Usopp answered, though kept furiously typing on his keyboard.

“Iva’s place?” Koala asked, placing the box she was carrying down behind the bar. “What did he need there?”

“Information, mostly.” Nami answered, smiling her thanks when Nojiko handed her a bottle of water.

“Oh, this is about the attacks, right?” Koala questioned back, leaning against the bar top.

Before Nami could answer the question, Penguin cut in. “How do you know about that?”

Koala tilted her head to the side, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Koala works as an investigator at one Grand Line’s top law firms.” Nami answered for her, taking a sip of her water. “And she’s _really_ good at her job.”

“ _Plus_ Sabo won’t shut up about the attacks.” Koala said with an eye-roll. “He’s worried sick about Luffy.”

“Sabo?” Ikkaku asked this time, looking up from her tablet for a moment.

“One of Luffy’s older brothers.” Nami said, running a hand through her hair. “And Koala’s boyfriend.”

“Is he the Slayer/Vampire?” Penguin asked, arms crossed. “Like what Law is?”

“No, that’s Ace, his other brother.” Nami said, hopping up to sit on the bar. “Sabo is actually half-Fire Jinn.”

“Technically called an Ifrit, as he always likes to remind me.” Koala stated with an amused smirk before walking over so she was next to Nami. “Do you guys need any help?”

“Maybe.” Nami said, lips twisted, glancing over at Usopp and Ikkaku as they both continued to type. “Once they find what we’re looking for.”

“And what’s that?” Koala asked, looking over at the two curiously.

Nami took another sip of her water before answering with a shrug. “We’ll know when we see it, I guess.”

* * *

“Okay, let’s get this over with.”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic.” Zoro muttered, rolling his eyes at his impatient sister.

“You know, I don’t _have_ to help you.” Tashigi retorted with, glaring at Zoro.

“We really do appreciate this, Tashigi.” Robin cut in with, placing a calming hand on Zoro’s arm. “Whatever help you can give us, we’ll gladly take it.”

Tashigi calmed down as well, smiling at her brother’s girlfriend. “I’ll say this again, Robin. You’re way too good for this idiot.”

“Oi!”

“I don’t know. I find him charming.” Robin teased, hiding her laughter before pressing a quick kiss to Zoro’s cheek.

“I hate both of you.” Zoro said, simmering.

Their conversation was cut off when the engine of another car, a purple BMW Z4 convertible, came driving into the parking lot before pulling into a parking space one down from Zoro’s car. Once the car was parked, two figures exited the vehicle.

“Baby 5, Bepo.” Robin called, waving the two Hearts over to them.

Baby 5 had changed into a navy blue 3/4-sleeved, scoop-neck top, dark skinny jeans tucked into black high-heeled, knee-high boots with navy blue accents, a light tan belt, and light brown fingerless gloves. Bepo was wearing an orange t-shirt with a white bear paw print over the front, black jeans, a black belt, and tan ankle boots.

“Are these the two you said were coming with you?” Tashigi asked, looking at both of them.

“Yeah.” Zoro answered, resting his right arm on his katanas. “Baby 5, Bepo, this is Tashigi. Tashigi, Baby 5 and Bepo.”

“A pleasure.” Baby 5 said while Bepo nodded his head in greeting.

“Nice to meet you.” Tashigi said back before motioning them with her hand to follow her. “Let’s get this over with. The guard for the impound lot is on break, so getting you in won’t be a problem. Do you know what the car looks like?”

Baby 5 pulled out a picture from her back pocket and passed it over to Tashigi. “This is a picture of the van we’re looking for.” At Zoro and Robin’s raised eyebrow, she added, “Ikkaku printed it out for me earlier. Thought it might come in handy.” She was handed the picture back.

Tashigi nodded as she waved her keycard over the access pad and pulled open the door, ushering the other four in front of her before following after them. Once inside, she headed straight for the impound garage, luckily located on the first floor of the GLBI building. After waving her keycard once more, she led the four into the garage and then turned to look at them.

“We have about forty-five minutes before the guard comes back and starts asking a lot of uncomfortable questions. Let’s make this quick.” She glanced around before back at the teens. “When did you say it was towed in?”

“Yesterday, at around six.” Baby 5 answered, since that’s what Ikkaku had told her.

“Okay, that’s very recent, so it should be near the front.” Tashigi said, leading the group to the section. “Let’s start searching. Holler if you find something.”

For about fifteen minutes, the five searched in silence for the van—surprised at the sheer amount of vehicles the GLBI towed in—before Robin whistled, getting everyone’s attention. They headed over to her, where she stood in front of a very large van.

“Good job.” Zoro said with a smirk, giving her a quick kiss.

Robin hid her laugher. “Thank you. It wasn’t all that hard.”

Tashigi looked at the black-haired young lady questionably before it hit her. “Ah, you used your Devil Fruit power and popped eyes everywhere until you found what you were looking for.”

Robin nodded and looked over at Baby 5. “Does the picture match?”

Baby 5, after looking between the photo and van in front of them, nodded. “This is definitely it.” She pointed to what looked like a dent in the side of the van and then at the same spot in the photo.

“They’re the same.” Bepo said quietly.

“Well, now that we found it, we need to get it to Franky.” Zoro said but was cut off by being smacked by Tashigi. “What?!”

“You can’t take this van, you idiot.” Tashigi hissed, smacking Zoro again. “It’s GLBI property!”

“Well, shit.” Zoro said before looking over at Tashigi again. “Can’t you sign it out or something?” He got smacked again. “Stop that!”

“I don’t have that authority yet, Zoro.” Tashigi responded.

“We probably should have thought this through better.” Robin said, tapping her chin.

“Well, guess we’re going to plan B.” Baby 5 said, rubbing her eyes.

“And that is?” Tashigi asked.

Baby 5 smirked. “Let’s go pay a visit to my grandfather.”

* * *

“Nothing!?” shouted Nami, rubbing a hand down her face. “How do we have nothing?! We found _every_ car that was present at _every_ attack, so how do we have _nothing?!”_

Nojiko sighed out. “Nami, calm down. We don’t need a thunderstorm in the club. Again. Last time was bad enough.”

Nami rubbed her eyes but calmed her breathing. “Fine, sorry. But seriously. How do we have nothing?”

“They’re very good.” Ikkaku stated, her and Usopp still trying to manipulate the screens to see if they could get a different view on the vans they spotted, but nothing.

Koala, though, placed a hand on Ikkaku’s to stop her movements, eyes squinting at something before laughing. “Not good enough, though.”

“What?” Ikkaku said, turning to look at the other questionably.

Koala pointed at the corner of the screen. “Zoom in there.”

Ikkaku did as she was told…and her mouth dropped. “No way.”

“What?” Penguin asked, trying to see over her other shoulder.

“The reflection.” Jackie said, pointing to a garbage can lid lying nearby. “The metal is still new enough to be reflective, and it got some of the numbers from the license plate. We have a partial number!”

Nami laughed now, relief evident in her posture. “I told you Koala was good.”

“What are those numbers?” Nojiko asked after stealing Usopp’s Chromebook, typing quickly over the keys before glancing up at Ikkaku.

“Oh, um,” she cleared the quality somewhat before nodding. “There’s a K, G, 7 and 9.” She looked up. “That’s all that was reflected.”

“That’s a start.” Nojiko said, typing it in before handing the Chromebook back to Usopp. “I’m running them through the GLBI license plate database. Should get us some matches based on every possible combination.”

“How are you running it through the GLBI database?” Ikkaku asked, confounded, as she looked over Usopp’s shoulder, watching the search happen.

“I hacked into it.” Nojiko said with a wave of her hand.

Ikkaku’s jaw dropped.

Nami chuckled while Usopp smirked. “Told you she was a scary good hacker.”

“Well, let’s see what we get then.” Nami finally said, watching a list start to compile. “This is progress, guys.”

* * *

“Director Sengoku is you grandfather?” Tashigi asked, eyes wide.

“Yup.” Baby 5 said as she led the way to the elevators.

“So why not go to him in the first place?” Tashigi asked. “Why ask me?”

“We didn’t wanna get the higher-ups involved.” Zoro answered, readjusting his arm on his katanas.

“But now we have no choice.” Baby 5 said with a sigh.

Just when they’d reached the elevators, they were already opening, and the man they’d wanted to see walked off, but he wasn’t alone.

“Oh, shit.” Zoro whispered, eyes wide.

“Well, this is not good.” Robin murmured.

Because, standing with Director Ishimori Sengoku, was none other than Deputy Director Monkey D. Garp.

Otherwise known as Luffy’s grandfather.

“We’re dead.” Zoro finally whispered.

“Baby 5? Bepo?” Sengoku asked when he’d spotted the two of them approaching. “What are you two doing here?”

Baby 5 smiled and stepped over to give him a hug in greeting before answering. “We were actually just on our way to see you. We need a favor.”

Before Sengoku could ask what kind of favor, Garp was pushing past him, his eyes locked on his grandson’s friends.

“You two!” he shouted gruffly, everyone around him wincing at the volume. “What are you doing here? Is that no good grandson of mine here?”

Zoro winced again and grumbled.

Robin placed a hand on his shoulder before answering the older man. “No, Luffy is not with us. He’s…elsewhere at the moment.”

Garp was about to demand where before Sengoku smacked him upside the head, quieting him, before looking back at his granddaughter and Law’s best friend.

“You said you needed a favor?” he asked, a lot kinder than Garp was.

Baby 5 found no gentle way to ask this question, so she decided to go with the “rip the bandaid off” route. “We need a van taken out of impound.”

Sengoku looked around at the four teens—Tashigi had to rush off, saying a quick goodbye, when her phone started ringing, someone needing her elsewhere—before over at Garp, looking as confused as he was, and then over at Baby 5 again.

“Okay, why?” he asked.

Baby 5 prayed that Law would forgive her before launching into a quick rundown of what’s been happening the past month, adding in the Straw Hats involvement after a nod from Zoro.

To say Sengoku and Garp were surprised was an understatement. They had no idea this had been going on with their own grandchildren. They had wanted to demand why they didn’t tell them, but it wouldn’t get them anywhere. Both Luffy and Law were strong, deadly young men who could more than take care of themselves. Plus, they were both the leaders of their crews, so without the okay from them, Zoro or Baby 5 wouldn’t give them anything else. They accepted that…but that didn’t mean they had to _like_ it.

“Okay,” Sengoku finally said, nodding his head. “I’ll give permission for the van to be removed.” The teens smiled in relief. “Where does it need to go?”

Robin told Sengoku the address of Galley-La & Tom’s Workers while Garp pulled Zoro off to the side.

“A month?” Garp asked, looking down at his grandson’s best friend. “This has been happening a whole month and _none_ of you mentioned anything?”

Zoro sighed out. “It was Luffy’s decision.” He looked up at the old man, a challenging gleam in his eye. “Luffy’s the leader, we go with what he says.”

There were so many things Garp had wanted to say, but they’d be wasted on Luffy’s second-in-command. He needed to talk to his grandson in person.

“Tell Luffy I’m going to stop by tonight or tomorrow.” Garp told Zoro, knowing that Luffy would just ignore his phone calls if he tried. Stupid brat.

Zoro hid a wince. “Alright.” Poor Luffy. That conversation would not end well.

* * *

Both Law and Luffy looked up when they heard the door to Iva’s office finally open after the two of them had been waiting for thirty minutes. Luffy even had a small—well, what Luffy considered small—snack while he waited, though he’d finished that ten minutes prior.

Law immediately tensed when he saw who it was that exited the office. He knew, on sight, that the woman wasn’t human…well, not fully so, and going by the scent, brimstone, she’s half-Demon. He inhaled again and almost gagged on the aftertaste of sweet perfume in the scent, so he now knew the _type_ of Demon—a Succubus. But Law really hadn’t needed to rely on his Slayer blood to know who and what the woman was. You’d have to be stupid or living under a rock not to know who this woman was.

“Hancock!” Luffy shouted as he jumped up and ran over to her, smile wide.

Well, that figured. Luffy _would_ know the most beautiful, and successful, woman in the Grand Line megalopolis.

Boa Hancock.

She was 6’3¼” and had hip-length, straight midnight black hair with twin chin-length side-locks, dark blue eyes, fair skin, a high forehead, voluminous lashes, sharpish canine teeth, and a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure; she was wearing a purple sleeveless qipao with a thigh-high slit over her left side and covered in pale purple flower-like symbols, purple pumps, and a pair of golden earrings that resembled snakes. Slithering alongside her was her pet white snake, Salome.

One look at her and most people—men and women—were reduced to mush, either by her beauty or by the pheromones she secreted, thanks to her Succubus heritage. Law acknowledged that she was beautiful, but that was it. He didn’t feel anything for her, other than annoyance, maybe, and her Succubus “powers” had no effect on him, thanks to his Slayer heritage. Just like with Luffy.

Who was greeting her like she was an old friend, nothing more. Which, if you asked anyone, was almost impossible.

“Luffy!” she exclaimed, accepting his hug with a slight blush before letting him go. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk to Iva.” Luffy explained, crossing his arms. “But had to wait until his meeting was over.”

“Yes, I was speaking with Iva about some business.” Hancock said offhandedly before noticing something that Luffy said. “We? Who’s we?”

“Oh, Torao!” Luffy exclaimed, turning around to wave the black-haired teen over to them while Hancock expertly hid her surprise. So _this_ was the infamous Torao. Interesting.

“This is Hammock!” Luffy introduced, getting her name wrong, as was bound to happen.

“Yes, Straw Hat, I’m quite aware of who Boa Hancock is.” Law stated, rolling his eyes, before glancing over at the woman and introducing himself. “Trafalgar Law.”

_Time for a quick test._

She kicked up her “Succubus charm”, as she and her sisters liked to call it, and smiled coyly. “A pleasure to meet you, Trafalgar Law,” she all but purred. “I’ve heard so many things about you.”

Law looked back at her, unimpressed. And maybe a little bored.

Before Hancock could say anything else, though, Luffy had quickly stepped in front of Law, like he had done earlier, and narrowed his, now blood red, eyes, lip curling up slightly in almost a snarl. Hancock got the message quite clearly, especially when she heard the beginnings of a growl come from him. She took a step back, hands in front of her innocently.

“I apologize.” Hancock finally said, and while looking at Law when she spoke, the apology was meant for Luffy. “I just wanted to confirm a suspicion.”

“And what’s that?” Law asked, switching Kikoku to his other shoulder.

“That you’re like Luffy, here.” Hancock said, silently sighing her relief when Luffy straightened up and his eyes turned back to their usual color, a small smile now on his lips to replace the snarl; he seemed to have forgiven her. “A Slayer/Vampire.”

“You could have just _asked_.” Law pointed out, eyebrow raised.

“Yes, I suppose I could have,” Hancock said, resting a hand on Salome’s head, “but not everyone is truthful when I ask them questions.” She then glanced back at Luffy, concern now present. “What was so urgent that you waited this long to speak with Iva? Is everything alright?”

Luffy shook his head, a frown overtaking the previous smile, before giving Hancock a brief overview of what’s been happening this past month. Once he’d finished, Law resting his forehead in his palm, exasperated, Hancock’s eyes were narrowed so much you could barely see the color of her irises anymore.

“Those cretins!” Hancock growled, fists clenched. “To dare hurt you and your friends. Unforgivable.” She shook her head before looking back at Luffy. “You have my full support, Luffy. I’ll help in anyway I can.”

Luffy’s smile widened while Law rolled his eyes before the thought hit him. Hancock was in charge of one of the most popular “escort” services in the Grand Line, and a lot of clientele probably pass through, so maybe she’d seen the mark somehow.

Luffy seemed to be thinking the same thing, because his next words were, “We have a picture of a tattoo that’s been on our attackers. If I show it to you, could you…”

Hancock cut him off. “Of course. If I find someone with that mark anywhere on them, I’ll call you immediately after I stone the miserable wretch. I’ll have my sisters and the other ladies on the look out as well.”

Luffy nodded and smiled wider before looking over at Law, who was already drawing another picture of the mark, before handing it over to Hancock. She grabbed it and looked it over, eyes narrowed in thought.

“Do you recognize it?” Law asked, folding his arms again.

Hancock studied it closer before finally shrugging delicately. “I could have sworn I’ve seen it somewhere before, but I can’t remember where.” She frowned, looking at Luffy. “I’m sorry.”

Luffy waved it off. “No worries. But just keep an eye out from now on, ‘kay?”

“Of course.” Hancock said, folding up the paper and tucking it away. “I really must go now.” She turned to Luffy again. “It was so wonderful to see you again, Luffy.” She pulled the smaller teen into a hug before releasing him. “Please stay safe.”

“Shishishi!” Luffy laughed, like usual, though a blush was now present after the words Hancock just whispered to him. “‘Kay!”

Hancock looked over at Law, giving him a very interesting once-over before smirking some. “And it was wonderful to finally meet you, Law.” Law grunted, a little confused by that statement, before nodding. “I’ll be in touch, gentlemen.” And then she left, sweeping out the back door in a grand style only she could make look natural.

A few moments went by.

“I am not going to even ask how you know her.” Law finally said, looking down at Luffy.

Luffy just laughed. “She’s a good friend.” He glanced at the open door before back at Law. “Well, seems Iva is free. Let’s go see what he can tell us, hm?”

Law shook his head before following after the rubber boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I am so, so, sooooo sorry about not updating until now. I have been so freakin busy with work (new owners) and school (labs, lots of labs) I haven't had time to sit and write. That, and I was having a little trouble planning out this next chapter. But this is where things start actually picking up. I know I've said that before, but then I start writing and I add more info and whatnot, and there we go. I also wanted to give a viewpoint from the different groups on what they're doing, as well as introduce some other characters and background info. And Robin and Zoro's conversation. I'm gonna explain a little more about this "claiming" I brought up, as I'm making it a legit thing, as in, the couples who I have already established in the story are each other's "claimed". 
> 
> Okay, so, for a Supernatural to “claim” someone (be it Human or another Supernatural), they need to somehow cut themselves and “feed” the other their blood (cutting the tongue while kissing is the most common way). It lets other Supernaturals (ones who have heightened senses, mostly) know this one has “been claimed”, almost like having fingerprints all over them, and Supernaturals take “claiming” very seriously and when someone has been claimed, others need to stay far away or risk being severely hurt (or killed) by the “claimer”. Once the “claim” is done enough times, the bond between the two can’t be broken, even in death, it is eternal, as neither will survive without the other (bonded in a way that can’t be fully comprehended). They essentially belong to each other, their life no longer their own, their very being imprinted with the essence of the other. Once they’re “claimed” by the Supernatural, they’re owned, possessed, and obsessed; everything one feels, so does the other—emotions, pain, joy, sorrow. In a sense, it is one heart in two bodies. The claiming for Witches/Wizards happens a different way, through a special spell they can cast that, ultimately, does the same thing.
> 
> That's where my mind is when I say "claimed". Also, for the purpose of this story, I'm having Luffy's mom and Ace's dad be siblings (the idea came from a One Piece Theory/Headcanon I've read, and that I like), which make Ace and Luffy "cousins" but they refer to each other, and treat each other, as brothers, especially when Dragon adopted Ace after his parents died. As for the Slayers, I mentioned in the beginning that Slayers have the ability to determine if someone is human or not, and if a Supernatural, what kind exactly, through scent; each Supernatural smells different. The Demons, as I stated, as brimstone/sulfur, for obvious reasons. That's what makes Slayers dangerous. But what makes Slayer-Vampires even more dangerous are the fact that they're better at detecting those scents, given they have the Vampires insanely heightened senses. Adding Boa Hancock in there was purposeful, she will play an important part in the future, and I will be including a flashback explaining her and Luffy's connection, and why Hancock had already heard of Law. Also, I'm hoping to add in another fight, maybe two, in the next chapter, which I'm trying to have up in a few days. Thanks for sticking with me, though. I appreciate it!!! As always, comments and kudos are welcome, and if anyone has any questions/concerns/thoughts/ideas, let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> So, what do y'all think? Good? Should I continue? Also, quick tidbit, I AM starting the story, like I said, with Luffy already being in love with Law, so, yes, Luffy might be a bit OOC cuz of that, but not by much (at least in my opinion). For the descriptions, if any of you guys have read work by me before, you should know I just like writing stuff like that. If you don't like, just skip past it. :) And concerning Sanji's last name, I have a reason I'm using the one I'm using instead of "Vinsmoke". You'll find out down the line. Until next time!


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